Ttf -.TRANS  IT 


A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 


THE  IVORY  SERIES 


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AMOS  JUDD.     By  J.  A.  Mitchell,  Editor  of  "Life" 
IA.     A  Love  Story.     By  Q.     [Arthur  T.  Quiller-Couch] 
THE    SUICIDE    CLUB.     By  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
IRRALIE'S    BUSHRANGER.     By  E.  W.  Hornung 
A    MASTER    SPIRIT.     By  Harriet  Prescott  Spofford 
MADAME    DELPHINE.     By  George  W.  Cable 
ONE    OF   THE   VISCONTI.     By  Eva  Wilder  Brodhead 
A   BOOK   OF    MARTYRS.     By  Cornelia  Atwood  Pratt 
A    BRIDE    FROM   THE    BUSH.     By  E.  W.  Hornung 
THE    MAN    WHO    WINS.     By  Robert  Herrick 
AN    INHERITANCE.     By  Harriet  Prescott  Spofford 

THE    OLD    GENTLEMAN    OF   THE    BLACK    STOCK. 
By  Thomas  Nelson  Page 

LITERARY  LOVE    LETTERS  AND  OTHER  STORIES. 
By  Robert  Herrick 

A    ROMANCE    IN    TRANSIT.     By  Francis  Lynde 
IN    OLD    NARRAGANSETT.     By  Alice  Morse  Earle 
SEVEN    MONTHS  A    PRISONER.     By  J.  V.  Hadley 
"IF    I    WERE    A    MAN."     By  Harrison  Robertson 
SWEETHEARTS   AND    WIVES.     By  Anna  A.  Rogers 
A   CIVILIAN    ATTACHE.     By  Helen  Dawes  Brown 


Other  volumes  to  be  announced 


A  ROMANCE  IN 
TRANSIT 


BY 

FRANCIS    LYNDE 


THIRD  EDITION 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
NEW  YORK    1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1897,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

NTINQ  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


To  the  small  person  who  unconsciously 
provided  the  motif  herein  wrought  upon, 
this  transitory  tale  is  affectionately  at 
tributed  by 

THE  AUTHOR 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  P.  P.  C.  ARIADNE,  i 

II.    THE    "PERSONALLY   CONDUCTED,"   .         13 

III.  THE  PRIVATE  CAR,          ...      20 

IV.  THE  DINNER  STATION,    ...       29 
V.  AT  THE  MEETING-POINT,         .        .      35 

VI.  REGARDLESS  ORDERS,      ...  40 

VII.  A  DINNER  ON  WHEELS,          .        .  47 

VIII.  THE  CAB  OF  THE  TEN-WHEELER,   .  56 

IX.  FIFTY  MILES  AN  HOUR,          .        .  64 

X.  A  CONFIDENCE  EN  ROUTE,     .        .  73 

XI.  AN  ARRIVAL  IN  TRANSIT,       .        .  83 

XII.  THE  ANCIENTS  AND  INVALIDS,        .  95 

XIII.  BETWEEN  STATIONS,        .        .        .  103 

XIV.  WITH  DENVER  IN  SIGHT,        .        .  in 
XV.  YARD-LIMITS, 115 

XVI.  THE  MADDING  CROWD,  .        .        .122 

XVII.  ON  THE  NARROW-GAUGE,        .        .133 

XVIII.  FLAGGED  DOWN,      .        .        .        .143 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XIX.  THE  FOOLISH  WIRES,      .        .        .     153 

XX.  CHIEFLY  SCENIC,      ....     160 

XXI.  ON  THE  HEIGHTS,  .        .        .        .167 

XXII.  ON  THE  SPUR-TRACK,      .        .        .176 

XXIII.  THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT,  .     182 

XXIV.  THE  END  OF  A  STOP-OVER,    .        .     195 
XXV.  WESTWARD  Ho!      .        .        .        .206 

XXVI.  A  BLIND  SIDING,    .        .        .        .211 

XXVII.  THE  DRUMMING  WHEELS,     .        .221 


A    ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 


P.    P.    C.    ARIADNE 

TRAIN  NUMBER  THREE,  the  "  Flying 
Kestrel/1  vestibuled,  had  crossed  the  yellow 
Rubicon  of  the  West  and  was  mounting 
toward  the  Occident  up  the  gentle  acclivi 
ties  of  the  Great  Plain.  The  morning  was 
perfect,  as  early  autumn  mornings  are  wont 
to  be  in  the  trans-Missouri  region  ;  the 
train  was  on  time  ;  and  the  through  passen 
gers  in  the  Pullman  sleeping-car  "  Ariadne  " 
had  settled  themselves,  each  according  to 
his  gifts,  to  enjoy  or  endure  the  day-long  run. 

There  was  a  sun-browned  ranchman  in 
lower  eleven,  homeward  bound  from  the 
Chicago  stockyards ;  a  pair  of  school-teach 
ers,  finishing  their  vacation  journey,  in  ten  ; 
a  Mormon  elder,  smug  in  ready-made  black 
and  narrow -brimmed  hat,  vis-d-vis  in  lower 
five  with  two  hundred  pounds  of  good- 


ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

)' comfort-loving  Catholic  priesthood 
j :  -Two -removes  from  the  elder, 
a  Denver  banker  lounged  corner-wise  in  his 
section,  oblivious  to  everything  save  the  fig 
ures  in  the  financial  column  of  the  morn 
ing  paper;  and  diagonally  across  from  the 
banker  were  the  inevitable  newly  married 
ones,  advertising  themselves  as  such  with 
all  the  unconscious  naivete  of  their  kind. 

Burton  and  his  wife  had  lower  three. 
They  were  homing  from  the  passenger 
agents'  meeting  in  Chicago ;  and  having 
gone  breakfastless  at  the  Missouri  River 
terminal  by  reason  of  a  belated  train,  were 
waiting  for  the  porter  to  serve  them  with 
eggs  and  coffee  from  the  buffet.  The  nar 
row  table  was  between  them,  and  Burton, 
who  was  an  exact  man  with  an  eye  to  sym 
metrical  detail,  raised  the  spring  clips  and 
carefully  smoothed  the  wrinkles  out  of  the 
table-cloth  as  he  talked.  A  private  car  had 
been  attached  to  the  train  at  the  Missouri 
River,  and  its  freightage  was  of  moment  to 
the  couple  in  section  three. 

"Are  you  sure  it's  the  President?"  asked 
the  wife,  leaning  back  to  give  the  cloth-lay 
ing  a  fair  field.  "  I  thought  the  Naught- 
fifty  was  General  Manager  Cadogan's  car." 


P.   P.  C.  ARIADNE  3 

"So  it  is;  but  President  Vennor  always 
borrows  it  for  his  annual  inspection  trip. 
And  I'm  quite  sure,  because  I  saw  Miss 
Vennor  on  the  platform  when  the  car  was 
coupled  on." 

"Then  we'll  get  home  just  in  time  to 
go  on  dress -parade/'  said  the  little  lady, 
flippantly.  "  Colorado  and  Utah  Division, 
fall  in  !  'Shun,  company  !  Eyes  right ! 
The  President  is  upon  you  !  "  and  she  went 
through  a  minimized  manual  of  arms  with 
the  table-knife. 

The  general  agent  frowned  and  stroked 
his  beard.  "  Your  anarchistic  leanings 
will  get  us  into  trouble  some  time,  Emily. 
Mr.  Vennor  is  not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with, 
and  you  mustn't  forget  that  he  is  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Colorado  and  Utah  Railway 
Company,  whose  bread  you  eat." 

"  Whose  bread  I  should  like  to  eat,  if 
that  slow-poke  in  the  buffet  would  ever 
bring  it,"  retorted  the  wife.  "And  it  is 
you  who  forget.  You  are  a  man,  and  Mr. 
Vennor  is  a  man ;  these  are  the  primal 
facts,  and  the  business  relation  is  merely 
incidental.  He  doesn't  think  any  more 
of  you  for  standing  in  awe  of  him." 

"I  don't  stand  in  awe  of  him,"  Burton 


4  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

began ;  but  the  opportune  arrival  of  the 
buffet  porter  with  the  breakfast  saved  him 
the  trouble  of  elaborating  his  defence. 

Half  way  through  the  frugal  meal  the 
swing-door  of  the  farther  vestibule  gave 
back,  and  a  young  man  came  down  the 
aisle  with  the  sure  step  of  an  accustomed 
traveller.  He  stopped  to  chat  a  moment 
with  the  school-teachers,  and  the  ranchman 
in  section  eleven,  looking  him  over  with 
an  appreciative  eye,  pronounced  him  a 
"  man's  man/'  and  the  terse  epithet  fitted. 
He  was  a  vigorous  young  fellow,  clean 
limbed  and  well  put  together,  and  good- 
looking  enough  to  tolerate  mirrors  in  their 
proper  places.  While  he  chatted  with  the 
two  young  women,  he  pushed  his  hat  back 
with  a  quick  gesture  which  was  an  index 
to  his  character.  Open-hearted  frankness 
looked  out  of  the  brown  eyes,  and  healthy 
optimism  gave  an  upward  tilt  to  the  curling 
mustache.  A  young  man  with  a  record 
clean  enough  to  permit  him  to  look  an  ac 
cusative  world  in  the  face  without  abash 
ment,  one  would  say. 

When  he  reached  the  breakfasting  pair 
in  three,  he  stopped  again  and  held  out 
a  hand  to  each. 


?.   P.  C.   ARIADNE  5 

"Well,  well;  you  two!  "  he  said.  "I 
didn't  see  you  when  I  went  forward. 
Where  did  you  get  on  ?  " 

"At  the  river, "  replied  Mrs.  Burton, 
making  room  for  him  in  the  seat  beside 
her.  "  Won't  you  sit  down  and  break 
bread  with  us?  literally,  you  know;  there 
isn't  anything  else  to  break  unless  you'll 
wait  for  the  shell  of  an  egg  that  is  not  yet 
cooked." 

' '  No,  thank  you ;  I  had  my  breakfast 
a  good  two  hours  ago.  Where  have  you 
been  ?  and  where  are  you  going  ?  ' ' 

' '  We  have  *  been  at  the  passenger  meet 
ing  in  Chicago,  and  we  are  on  the  way 
home,"  said  the  general  agent. 

"Yes,  running  a  race  with  the  Presi 
dent,"  cut  in  Mrs.  Burton.  "John  is  dread 
fully  afraid  we  sha'n't  get  to  Salt  Lake  in 
time  to  be  keel-hauled  with  the  rest  of  the 
force." 

The  young  man  sat  back  on  the  arm  of 
the  opposite  seat  with  the  light  of  inquiry 
in  his  eyes.  "  What  President?"  he  asked. 

"  Vennor,  of  our  company.  Didn't  you 
know  he  was  in  the  Naught-fifty  ?  ' '  said 
Burton. 

"  No.     They   coupled  it   on  just  as  we 


6  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

were  leaving  the  river,  and  I  thought — I 
took  it  for  granted  that  our  General  Man 
ager  was  aboard.  It's  Mr.  Cadogan's  car." 

"  I  know  ;  but  President  Vennor  always 
borrows  it  for  his  annual  trip." 

' '  Are  you  sure  ?     Have  you  seen  him  ?  ' ' 

"  Quite  sure.  I  saw  Miss  Vennor  on 
the  platform  with  some  other  young  people 
whom  I  don't  know.  It's  Mr.  Vennor' s 
party. ' ' 

The  young  man  pushed  his  hat  back,  and 
the  look  of  frankness  became  introspective. 
"  Do  you  know  the  Vennors  ?  personally, 
I  mean. ' ' 

The  little  lady  made  answer  : 

"  Yes.  We  met  them  at  Manitou  last 
summer.  Do  you  know  them  ?  ' ' 

The  young  man  seemed  unaccountably 
embarrassed.  "  I — I've  met  Miss  Gertrude 
— that  was  last  summer,  too,"  he  stam 
mered.  "  Did  you — did  you  like  her, 
Mrs.  Burton?" 

"Very  much,  indeed;  she  is  as  sweet 
and  lovable  as  her  father  is  odious.  Do 
have  a  cup  of  coffee,  won't  you  ?  " 

"No,  thank  you.  Then  you  didn't  ad 
mire  the  President  ?  " 

"Indeed  I  didn't;    no  one  could.     He 


P.  P.  C.  ARIADNE  7 

• 

is  one  of  the  cool,  contemptuous  kind  of 
people  ;  always  looking  you  over  as  if  he 
had  half  a  mind  to  buy  you.  He  was  barely 
civil  to  me,  and  he  was  positively  rude  to 
John." 

"  Oh,  no;  not  quite  that,  Emily," 
amended  the  husband.  "I'm  only  one  of 
a  good  many  employees  to  him." 

"  Draws  the  money-line  sharp  and  clear, 
does  he?"  said  the  young  man,  who  ap 
peared  to  be  more  deeply  interested  than  a 
merely  casual  topic  would  account  for. 

The  little  lady  nodded  vigorously. 
"  That's  it,  exactly.  You  can  fairly  hear 
the  double  eagles  clink  when  he  speaks." 

The  general  agent  deprecated  disloyalty, 
and  was  fain  to  change  the  subject. 

< '  What  are  you  doing  so  far  away  from 
your  territory,  Fred  ?  "  he  asked. 

"I'm  in  charge  of  the  party  of  old  peo 
ple  and  invalids  in  the  Tadmor.  They'd  a 
mind  to  be  '  personally  conducted, '  and  they 
threaten  to  take  me  all  the  way  across  to  the 
Coast." 

"Good  !  "  exclaimed  the  small  person. 
"  Then  you  can  stop  over  and  visit  us  in 
Salt  Lake." 

The  passenger  agent  shook  his  head.     "  I 


8  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

• 

sha'n't  get  that  far.     I  must  break  away  at 
Denver,  by  all  means. ' ' 

' '  Would  nothing  tempt  you  to  go  on  ?" 

"  I'm  afraid  not;  that  is — I — er — "  the 
young  man's  embarrassment  suddenly  re 
turned,  and  he  stopped  helplessly. 

Mrs.  Burton's  curiosity  was  instantly  on 
the  alert.  ' '  Then  there  is  something  ?  Do 
tell  me  what  it  is,"  she  pleaded. 

"  It's  nothing ;  in  fact,  it's  much  less  than 
nothing.  I  hesitated  because  I — because 
your  way  of  putting  it  is  very — that  is,  it 
covers  a  great  deal  of  ground,"  he  stam 
mered. 

"  Don't  make  him  quibble  any  more  than 
he  has  to,"  said  Burton,  with  mock  severity. 
"  You  see  it's  quite  impossible  for  him  to 
tell  the  truth." 

The  young  man  laughed  good-naturedly. 
"That's  the  fact.  I've  been  in  the  pas 
senger  service  so  long  that  I  can't  always  be 
sure  of  recognizing  the  verities  when  I  meet 
them.  But  to  get  back  to  the  original  sheep; 
I  mustn't  go  on — not  beyond  Denver.  It 
would  have  been  better  for  all  concerned  if 
I  had  cut  it  short  at  the  river." 

"  For  all  concerned?  for  yourself  and  the 
invalids,  you  mean? ' '  queried  the  curious  one. 


P.   P.   C.   ARIADNE  9 

"  Yes,  and  perhaps  for  some  others.  But 
speaking  of  the  invalids,  I'll  have  to  be  get 
ting  back  to  them ;  they'll  think  I've  desert 
ed  them.  I'll  be  in  again  later  in  the  day." 

Mrs.  Burton  waited  until  the  swing-door 
of  the  vestibule  had  winged  itself  to  rest  be- 
hind  him.  Then  she  arched  her  eyebrows 
at  her  husband  and  said,  "  I  wonder  if  Fred 
isn't  the  least  little  bit  epris  with  Gertrude 
Vennor?" 

To  which  the  general  agent  replied,  with 
proper  masculine  contumely,  "  I  believe 
you  would  infer  a  whole  railroad  from  a 
single  cross-tie.  Of  course  he  isn't.  Brock- 
way  is  a  good  fellow,  and  a  rising  young 
man,  but  he  knows  his  place. " 

None  the  less  it  was  the  arrow  of  the 
woman's  intuition,  and  not  that  of  the  man's 
reason,  that  pierced  the  truth.  In  the  vesti 
bule  the  passenger  agent  suddenly  changed 
his  mind  about  rejoining  his  party  in  the 
Tadmor,  turning  aside  into  the  deserted 
smoking-room  of  the  Ariadne  to  burn  a  re 
flective  cigar,  and  to  piece  out  reminiscence 
with  present  fact. 

Notwithstanding  his  expressed  reluctance, 
he  had  intended  going  on  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  with  the  party  in  the  Tadmor;  had,  in 


io  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

effect,  more  than  half  promised  so  to  do.  It 
was  the  time  of  year  when  he  could  best  be 
spared  from  his  district ;  and  the  members 
of  the  party  had  made  a  point  of  it.  But 
the  knowledge  that  Miss  Gertrude  Vennor 
was  a  passenger  on  the  train  opened  up  a 
new  field  wherein  prudence  and  reawakened 
passion  fought  for  the  mastery,  to  the  utter 
disregarding  of  the  mere  business  point  of 
view. 

They  had  met  in  Colorado  the  previous 
summer — the  passenger  agent  and  the  Presi 
dent's  daughter — and  Brockway  had  lost  his 
heart  to  the  sweet-faced  young  woman  from 
the  farther  East  before  he  had  so  much  as 
learned  her  name.  He  was  convoying  a 
train -load  of  school-teachers  across  the  con 
tinent  ;  and  then,  as  now,  she  was  a  member 
of  a  party  in  her  father's  private  car.  Their 
meeting  was  at  Silver  Plume,  where  she  had 
become  separated  from  her  father's  party, 
and  had  boarded  the  excursion  train,  mis 
taking  it  for  the  regular  which  was  to  follow 
Brockway 's  special  as  second  section.  The 
obvious  thing  for  Brockway  to  have  done  was 
to  put  her  off  at  Georgetown,  where  the  fol 
lowing  section  would  have  picked  her  up  in 
a  few  minutes.  But  he  did  no  such  unself- 


P.   P.  C.   ARIADNE  II 

ish  thing.  Before  the  excursion  train  had 
doubled  the  final  curve  of  the  Loop  he  was 
ready  to  purchase  her  continued  presence  at 
a  price. 

This  he  accomplished  by  omitting  to  men 
tion  the  obvious  expedient.  Leaving  a  mes 
sage  with  the  Georgetown  operator,  notifying 
the  President  that  his  daughter  was  on  the 
excursion  train,  Brockway  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing ;  and,  by  a  judicious  conspiracy 
with  his  own  conductor  and  engineer,  man 
aged  to  keep  the  special  well  ahead  of  the 
regular  all  the  way  to  Denver. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  it,  and  fate, 
kindly  or  unkindly,  had  added  yet  other 
meetings ;  at  Manitou,  at  Leadville,  and 
again  at  Salt  Lake  City,  where  the  Presi 
dent's  daughter  had  voluntarily  joined  Brock- 
way's  sight-seeing  party  on  the  strength  of 
an  acquaintance  with  two  of  the  Boston 
school-mistresses.  The  temporary  chaperons 
were  kind,  and  the  friendship  had  burgeoned 
into  something  quite  like  intimacy  before  the 
"  Mormon  day  "  was  overpast.  But  there  it 
had  ended.  Since  that  day  he  had  neither 
seen  her  nor  heard  from  her ;  and  when  he 
had  come  to  look  the  matter  squarely  in  the 
face  in  the  light  of  sober  afterthought,  he  was 


12  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

minded  to  put  his  infatuation  under  foot, 
and  to  try  honestly  to  be  glad  that  their 
lives  had  gone  apart.  For  he  had  learned 
that  Mr.  Francis  Vennor  was  a  multi-million- 
naire,  and  that  his  daughter  was  an  heiress  in 
her  own  right ;  and  no  poor  gentleman  was 
ever  more  fiercely  jealous  of  his  poverty 
rights  than  was  this  shrewd  young  soldier  in 
the  unnumbered  army  of  the  dispossessed. 

But  the  intervention  of  half  a  continent  of 
space  is  one  thing,  and  that  of  a  mere  car- 
length  is  another.  Now  that  he  had  to 
walk  but  the  length  of  the  Tadmor  to  be 
with  her  again,  the  eager  passion  which  he 
had  fondly  believed  to  be  safely  dead  and 
buried  rose  up  in  its  might  and  threatened 
to  put  poverty-pride,  and  all  other  calmly 
considered  springs  of  action  to  the  sword ; 
did  presently  run  them  through,  for  when 
Brockway  left  the  smoking-room  of  the 
Ariadne  and  crossed  the  jarring  platforms 
to  the  door  of  the  Tadmor,  he  was  flogging 
his  wits  to  devise  some  pretext  which  would 
excuse  an  invasion  of  the  private  car. 


II 

THE    "PERSONALLY    CONDUCTED  " 

IN  view  of  the  certain  proximity  of  Miss 
Gertrude  Vennor,  Brockway  wanted  nothing 
so  much  as  a  quiet  opportunity  to  think  his 
mind  clear  in  the  matter  of  his  love-affair, 
but  time  and  place  were  both  denied  him. 
Lying  in  wait  for  him  at  the  very  door  of 
the  Tadmor  was  a  thin  old  gentleman,  with 
hock-bottle  shoulders  and  penthoused  eyes. 
His  voice  was  high-pitched  and  rasping ; 
and  his  speech  was  petulance  grown  old  and 
unreasoning. 

"  Mr.  ah — Brockway,  I  protest !  Do  you 
consider  it  fair  to  us,  your  patrons,  to  absent 
yourself  for  the  ah — better  part  of  the  morn 
ing  ?  Here  I've  been  waiting  for  you  more 
than  an  hour,  sir,  and " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Jordan  ;  I'm 
sorry,"  Brockway  cut  in.  "What  can  I  do 
for  you  ?  ' ' 

"  You  can  attend  to  your  ah — business  a 
13 


14  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

little  closer,  for  one  thing,  Mr.  ah — Brock- 
way,"  quavered  the  aggrieved  one,  taking  a 
yard-long  coupon  ticket  from  his  breast 
pocket ;  "  and  for  another,  you  can  give 
me  the  sixty  days  going  limit  on  this  ticket 
that  I  ah — stipulated  for  when  I  bought  it, 
sir." 

Brockway  glanced  at  the  ticket  and  called 
attention  to  the  conditions  in  the  contract. 
"  The  going  limit  of  thirty  days  is  plainly 
stated  here,  Mr.  Jordan.  Didn't  you  read 
the  contract  before  signing  it?" 

"  Don't  make  any  difference,  sir;  I  ah — 
stipulated  for  sixty  days,  and  I  require  you 
to  make  the  stipulation  ah — good,  sir." 

"But,  my  dear  sir,  I  can't.  No  repre 
sentative  of  any  one  of  the  lines  interested 
is  authorized  to  change  these  conditions." 

"  Very  well,  sir ;  v-e-r-y  well."  The  iras 
cible  one  folded  the  ticket  with  tremulous 
fingers  and  sought  to  replace  it  in  his  pocket- 
book.  ' i  I  shall  know  what  road  to  ah — 
patronize  next  time,  and  it  won't  be  yours, 
Mr.  ah — Brockway ;  you  may  depend  upon 
that,  sir." 

The  passenger  agent's  forte  was  placability. 
"  Don't  worry  about  your  ticket,  Mr.  Jor 
dan,"  he  said.  "We'll  take  good  care  of 


THE  "  PERSONALLY  CONDUCTED"      15 

you,  and  if  you  should  happen  to  be  more 
than   thirty   days   in   reaching   Los   Ange- 

"  Thirty  days!"  gasped  the  objector. 
"  Great  ah — heavens,  sir,  you  told  us  you 
could  put  us  there  in  ah — four  days  and  a 
half!  " 

"  So  I  did,  and  so  we  shall,  barring  the 
stop-overs  the  party  may  wish  to  make ;  but 
in  that  case  I  don't  see  why  you  should  re 
quire  a  sixty-day  limit,"  said  Brockway, 
with  an  affable  smile. 

By  this  time  quite  a  little  group  had  gath 
ered  around  them,  and  anxious  queries  be 
gan  to  beat  thick  and  fast  upon  Brock  way's 
ears. 

"  What's  that  about  our  tickets  ?  " 

"  Thirty  days,  did  you  say  ?  " 

"  Can't  have  stop-overs?  " 

Brockway  got  upon  his  feet.  "  One  mo 
ment,  if  you  please,"  he  protested.  "There 
is  nothing  wrong — nothing  different.  Mr. 
Jordan  and  I  were  merely  discussing  the 
question  of  an  extra  limit  on  his  own  ticket ; 
that  was  all." 

"Oh." 

"Ah." 

"  Where  do  we  get  dinner?  " 


1 6  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  What  time  do  we  reach  Denver?  " 
"  Is  there  a  dining-car  on  this  train  ?  " 
Brockway  answered  the  inquiries  in  se 
quence,  and  when  the  norm  of  quiet  was  re 
stored,  a  soft-spoken  little  gentleman  in  a 
grass-cloth  duster  and  a  velvet  skull-cap  drew 
him  away  to  the  smoking-compartment. 

"  Let's  go  and  smoke,"  he  said;  and 
Brockway  went  willingly,  inasmuch  as  the 
little  gentleman  with  the  womanish  face  and 
the  ready  cigar-case  was  the  only  person  in 
the  party  who  seemed  to  be  capable  of  trav 
elling  without  a  guardian. 

"  Worry  the  life  out  of  you,  don't  they, 
my  boy, ' '  said  the  comforter,  when  his  cigar 
was  alight. 

"  Oh,  no ;  I'm  well  used  to  it." 
"  I  presume  you  are,  in  a  way.   Still,  some 
of  the  complaints  are  so  ridiculous.     I  sup 
pose  you've  heard  the  latest  ?  ' ' 

"Nothing  later  than  Mr.  Jordan's  demand 
for  sixty  days  in  which  to  complete  a  week's 
journey." 

"  Oh,  it  isn't  that ;  that's  an  individual 
grievance.  The  other  involves  the  entire 
party.  Of  course,  you  are  aware  that  the 
Tadmor  is  no  longer  the  rear  car  in  the 
train?" 


THE  "PERSONALLY  CONDUCTED  "      17 

"  Oh,  Lord  !  are  they  going  to  fight  about 
that?" 

"Unquestionably.  Didn't  you  promise 
some  of  them  that  this  particular  chariot 
should  be  at  the  tail-end  of  the  trans-conti 
nental  procession  ? ' ' 

"  No.  It  was  merely  an  answer  to  a  ques 
tion.  I  said  that  extra  cars  were  usually  put 
on  behind.  Are  they  going  to  demand  it  as 
a  right  ?" 

"Yes;  I  believe  the  deputation  is  wait 
ing  for  you  now." 

"  Heavens — what  a  lot  of  cranks  !  "  said 
Brockway,  despairingly.  "  The  thing  can't 
be  done,  but  I  may  as  well  go  and  fight  it 
out." 

The  deputation  was  in  section  six,  and 
one  of  the  committee  rose  and  gave  him  a 
seat. 

"  There  is  a  little  matter  we  should  like 
to  have  adjusted,"  began  the  courteous  one  ; 
but  Brockway  interrupted. 

"  Mr.  Somers  was  just  telling  me  about 
it.  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  insist — 

There  were  two  elderly  ladies  on  the  com 
mittee,  and  they  protested  as  one  person. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Brockway  !  You  know  we 
made  it  a  positive  condition — so  we  could 


1 8  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

go  out  on  the  platform  and  see  the  scen 
ery." 

"  But,  my  dear  madam,  let  me  ex 
plain " 

"There  is  nothing  to  explain;  it  was  an 
explicit  promise,  and  we  insist  on  its  fulfil 
ment." 

"Just  one  word,"  Brockway  pleaded. 
"The  car  behind  us  is  our  General  Mana 
ger's  private  car,  lent  to  President  Vennor, 
of  the  Colorado  and  Utah.  If  we  should  put 
it  ahead  of  this,  Mr.  Vennor's  party  would 
be  continually  disturbed  by  the  passengers 
and  train-men  going  back  and  forth.  Don't 

The  fourth  member  of  the  deputation  put 
in  his  word  at  this. 

' '  How  long  has  it  been  since  the  railway 
companies  began  to  put  the  convenience  of 
their  guests  before  the  rights  of  their  patrons, 
Mr.  Brockway?  Answer  me  that,  if  you 
please. ' ' 

"  I  should  like  to  know !  "  declared  one  of 
the  ladies.  "  We  have  paid  for  our  accom 
modations." 

The  courteous  one  summed  up  the  matter 
in  set  phrase. 

"  It's  no  use,  Mr.  Brockway,  as  you  see. 


THE  "  PERSON  ALLY  CONDUCTED''      19 

If  you  don't  carry  out  your  part  of  the  agree 
ment,  I'm  afraid  we  shall  have  to  telegraph 
to  your  superiors." 

For  a  moment  Brockway  was  tempted  to 
answer  four  fools  according  to  their  folly. 
Then  he  bethought  him  that  he  had  but  now 
been  seeking  a  pretext  which  would  open  the 
door  of  the  private  car.  Here  was  a  make 
shift  ;  a  poor  one,  to  be  sure,  but  better  than 
none.  Wherefore,  instead  of  quarrelling 
with  the  deputation,  he  rose  with  placatory 
phrases  in  his  mouth. 

< <  Very  well;  I'll  see  what  can  be  done. 
But  you  must  give  me  a  little  time ;  the 
scenery  — "  pointing  to  the  monotonous 
landscape  circling  slowly  with  the  onward 
sweep  of  the  train — "  is  not  exactly  of  the 
rear-platform  variety  yet." 

After  which  he  retreated  to  the  rear  vesti 
bule  of  the  Tadmor  and  stood  looking  out 
through  the  glass  panel  in  the  door  at  the 
hamper-laden  front  platform  of  the  Naught- 
fifty,  trying  to  muster  courage  to  take  the 
chilling  plunge.  For  he  knew  that  the  year 
agone  episode  was  not  altogether  pleasing  to 
the  father  of  Miss  Gertrude  Vennor. 


Ill 

THE    PRIVATE    CAR 

"YES,  sah;  mighty  sorry,  sah;  but  we 
cayn't  cook  you-all's  dinner,  no-how,  sah. 
Wateh-pipe's  done  bu'sted  in  de  range." 

President  Vennor  turned  and  regarded  the 
big-bodied  cook  of  the  Naught-fifty  with  the 
eye-sweep  of  appraisal  which  Mrs.  Burton 
had  found  so  annoying. 

"  No  dinner,  you  say  ?  That's  bad.  Why 
did  you  burst  the  pipe?  " 

"I — I  didn't  bu'sted  it,  sah;  hit  des 
bu'sted  hitse'f— 'deed  it  did,  sah !  " 

"  Well,  can't  you  serve  us  a  cold  lunch?  " 

"  Might  do  dat — yes,  sah ;  ef  dat'll  do." 

"What  is  that,  papa;  no  luncheon  to 
day  ? ' '  asked  a  young  woman,  coming  down 
the  compartment  to  stand  beside  the  Presi 
dent's  chair. 

There  was  a  family  resemblance,  but  in  the 
daughter  the  magic  of  femineity  had  soft 
ened  the  severer  characteristics  until  they 


THE  PRIVATE  CAR  21 

became  winsome  and  good  to  look  upon. 
The  cool  gray  eyes  of  the  father  were  Ger 
trude's  inheritance,  also;  but, in  the  eyes  of 
the  daughter  the  calculating  stare  became  the 
steady  gaze  of  clean-hearted  guilelessness ; 
and  in  her  even-tinted  complexion  there 
was  only  a  suggestion  of  the  sallow  olive  of 
the  father's  clean-shaven  face.  For  face 
and  figure,  Gertrude  owed  much  to  birth 
and  breeding,  and  it  was  small  wonder  that 
Frederick  Brockway  had  lost  his  heart  to  her 
in  time-honored  and  romantic  fashion. 

The  President  answered  his  daughter's 
query  without  taking  his  eyes  from  the  big- 
bodied  cook. 

"  No ;  there  is  something  the  matter  with 
the  range.  Ask  the  others  if  they  would 
prefer  a  cold  luncheon  in  the  car  to  the 
table  d ' hote  at  the  dinner  station. " 

Gertrude  went  to  the  other  end  of  the 
compartment  and  stated  the  case  to  Mrs. 
Dunham,  the  chaperon  of  the  party;  to 
Priscilla  and  Hannah  Beaswicke,  two  young 
women  of  the  Annex ;  to  Chester  Fleetwell, 
A.B.,  Harvard,  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth,  but 
the  ablest  oarsman  of  his  class  by  a  very  safe 
majority;  and  to  Mr.  Harold  Quatremain, 
the  President's  secretary. 


22  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

The  dinner  station  carried  it  unanimously, 
and  Gertrude  announced  the  vote. 

"  We're  all  agreed  upon  the  table  d'hote  " 
she  said ;  and  the  Falstaffian  negro  shook 
himself  free  and  backed  into  the  vestibule. 
"  What  is  its  name?  and  when  do  we  ar 
rive?" 

"I'll  have  to  inquire/'  Mr.  Vennor  re 
plied.  "  I'll  go  forward  and  have  the  con 
ductor  wire  ahead  for  a  separate  table." 

But  Gertrude  said  :  "  Please  don't ;  let's 
go  with  the  crowd  for  once.  I'm  so  tired  of 
being  always  specialized." 

The  President's  smile  was  suggestive  of 
the  metallic  smirk  on  the  face  of  a  George- 
the-Fourth  penny.  "Just  as  you  please," 
he  rejoined  ;  "  but  I'll  go  and  find  out  when 
and  where." 

Now  it  chanced  that  at  this  precise  moment 
Brockway  had  laid  his  hand  on  the  Tadmor's 
door-knob  preparatory  to  taking  the  plunge  ; 
and  when  he  opened  the  door  he  found  him 
self  face  to  face  with  the  President.  Where 
upon  he  fell  back  and  lost  the  power  of 
speech,  while  the  incomer  appraised  him 
with  his  eyes  and  tried  to  remember  where 
he  had  seen  him  before.  Recognition  brought 
with  it  a  small  frown  of  annoyance. 


THE  PRIVATE  CAR  23 

"  Your  name  is  Brockway,  I  believe,"  the 
President  said. 

"Ye-yes,"  Brockway  stammered,  being 
by.no  means  so  sure  of  it  at  the  moment. 

"  H-m  ;  and,  if  I  remember  correctly,  you 
are  an  employee  of  this  line  ?  ' ' 

"I  am."  The  passenger  agent  was  be 
ginning  a  little  to  recover  his  scattered  store 
of  self-possession. 

< '  Very  good.  Possibly  you  can  tell  me 
what  I  want  to  know.  What  is  the  dinner 
station,  and  when  do  we  reach  it?  " 

' l  Moreno — twelve- ten.  Shall  I  wire  ahead 
for  a  private  table  ?  ' '  Brockway  asked,  eager 
to  preface  his  unwelcome  purpose  with  some 
small  token  of  service. 

"  By  no  means ;  we  are  no  better  than  the 
patrons  of  your  company.  What  is  good 
enough  for  them  ought  to  suffice  for  us. " 

"  Of  course,  if  you  don't  wish  it,"  Brock- 
way  began ;  and  then  the  plunge  :  "  I  am 
in  charge  of  the  excursionists  in  this  car,  and 
they  want  it  placed  behind  yours.  If  you  will 

kindly  consent  to  humor  their  whim " 

He  stopped  in  deference  to  the  frown  of  dis 
pleasure  which  was  gradually  overspreading 
the  President's  brow. 

' '  And  so  make  our  private  car  a  thorough- 


24  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

fare  for  everybody/*  said  he,  indignantly; 
then,  with  a  sudden  turn  which  confused 
Brockway  until  he  saw  its  drift,  "But  you 
are  quite  right ;  the  patrons  of  your  company 
should  always  be  considered  first.  We  are 
only  guests.  By  all  means,  make  the  change 
at  the  first  opportunity.'7 

"  Please  don't  misunderstand  me/'  Brock- 
way  said,  courageously.  "  I  didn't  propose 
it.  If  you  object,  just  say  so,  and  I'll  see 
them  all  hanged  first. ' ' 

The  President  shook  his  head  reprovingly, 
and  Brockway  fancied  he  could  feel  the  cold 
gray  eyes  pinning  him  against  the  parti 
tion. 

"Certainly  not;  I  am  afraid  you  don't 
sufficiently  consider  your  duty  to  your  em 
ployers.  I  not  only  authorize  the  change — 
I  desire  it.  I  shall  request  it  if  you  do 
not." 

Brockway  winced  under  the  patronizing 
tone,  but  he  was  determined  not  to  let  pride 
stand  in  the  way  of  better  things.  So  he 
said,  "  Thank  you  for  helping  me  out.  I'll 
have  the  change  made  at  the  dinner  station, 
and  we'll  try  not  to  annoy  you  any  more 
than  we  can  help." 

That  ended  it,  and  he  was  no  nearer  the 


THE   PRIVATE  CAR  25 

penetralia  of  car  Naught -fifty  than  before. 
Mr.  Vennor  turned  to  go,  but  at  the  door  he 
bethought  him  of  the  crippled  range. 

"  A  water-pipe  has  burst  in  our  kitchen 
range,"  said  he.  "  Can  we  get  it  repaired 
this  side  of  Denver  ?  ' ' 

Brockway  considered  it  for  a  moment. 
Back  of  his  passenger  department  service 
there  was  an  apprenticeship  in  mechanics, 
and  he  was  weighing  the  scanty  furnishings 
of  the  engineer's  tool-box  against  the  proba 
ble  askings  of  the  undertaking.  It  was  a 
chance  to  show  his  good-will,  and  he  con 
cluded  to  risk  it. 

"  Hardly.  We  don't  stop  long  enough 
at  the  division  station.  Is  it  a  very  bad 
break?" 

"  Indeed,  I  know  nothing  about  it.  The 
cook  tells  me  he  can't  use  the  range." 

"  May  I  go  in  and  look  at  it  ?  "  Brock- 
way  asked. 

Now  President  Vennor,  upon  recognizing 
Gertrude's  acquaintance  of  the  previous 
summer,  had  determined  to  prevent  a  re 
newal  of  the  intimacy  at  whatever  cost ;  but 
he  abhorred  tables  d' hote  and  railway  eating- 
stations,  and  was  willing  to  make  some  con 
cessions  to  avoid  them.  So  he  gave  the 


26  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

coveted  permission,  and  a  minute  later  they 
were  in  the  kitchen  of  the  private  car,  in 
specting  the  disabled  range. 

"  It  isn't  as  bad  as  it  might  be/'  Brock- 
way  announced,  finally.  "  I  think  I  can 
stop  the  leak  with  what  tools  I  can  find  in 
the  engineer's  box." 

"You?" 

"Yes;  I'm  a  machinist  by  trade,  you 
know.  I  earned  my  living  at  it  awhile,  be 
fore  I  went  into  the  passenger  department.'1 
Brockway  found  a  certain  measure  of  satis 
faction  in  running  counter  to  the  presumed 
an ti -craftsman  prejudice  of  the  man  of  in 
herited  wealth. 

"I'm  sure  it  is  very  good  of  you  to  offer, 
but  I  couldn't  think  of  troubling  you,"  the 
President  said,  sparring  to  gain  time  in 
which  to  perfect  a  little  plan  which  had  just 
suggested  itself. 

"Oh,  it's  no  trouble;  I  shall  be  glad 
enough  to  help  you  out." 

"  Very  well,  then — if  you  wish  to  try.  I 
will  make  it  worth  your  while." 

Brockway  straightened  up  and  met  the 
appraising  eyes  unflinchingly. 

"Excuse  me,  Mr.  Vennor,  but  you've 
mistaken  your  man  this  time,"  he  said, 


THE   PRIVATE  CAR  27 

steadily.     "  I'll  gladly  do  it  as  a  kindness 
— not  otherwise." 

The  President  smiled.  ,„'/  I  beg  your  par 
don,  Mr.  Brockway,"  he  apologized,  with 
the  faintest  possible  emphasis  on  the  prefix ; 
"  we  shall  be  most  grateful  if  you  will  come 
to  our  rescue  upon  your  own  terms.  I  pre 
sume  you  won't  have  time  before  noon  ?  " 

"N — no,"   said  Brockway,   glancing   at 
his  watch  and  generously  burying  his  pique 
with  the  provocation ;   "  but  I'll  attack  it  as  t 
soon  as  we  leave  Moreno.     It  won't  take 
long." 

Mr.  Vennor  bowed,  and  saw  his  newly 
pledged  servitor  safely  out  upon  the  hamper- 
laden  platform.  He  cherished  a  little  theory 
of  his  own  respecting  the  discouraging  of 
youthful  and  sentimental  intimacies,  and  it 
was  based  upon  conditions  which  Brock- 
way's  proposed  undertaking  might  easily  ful 
fil.  Gertrude  had  been  distinctly  pleased 
with  the  young  man  the  preceding  summer. 
Other  things  had  happened  since,  and,  fort 
unately,  Fleetwell  was  along  to  look  after  his 
own  interests.  None  the  le^s,  it  might  be 
well  for  them  to  meet  under  conditions 
which  would  make  it  impossible  for  the 
passenger  agent  to  pose  as  Gertrude's  social 


28  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

equal.    Accordingly,  the  President  sought  out 
the  porter  and  gave  him  his  instructions. 

"  William,  that  young  man  will  come  in 
this  afternoon  to  repair  the  range.  When 
he  is  well  at  work,  I  want  you  to  come  and 
tell  me." 


p  7  /- 

r^\>C^    ^:vy 


IV 

THE   DINNER   STATION 

THE  railway  company's  hotel  at  Moreno 
is  a  pretentious  Queen  Anne  cockle-shell, 
confronted  by  a  broad  platform  flowing  in 
an  unrippled  tide  of  planking  between  the 
veranda  and  the  track,  with  tributary 
wooden  streams  paralleling  the  rails. 

Brockway  knew  this  platform  by  length 
and  by  breadth;  and  when  the  "  Flying 
Kestrel ' '  ranged  alongside  he  meant  to  pro 
ject  himself  into  the  procession  of  dinner- 
seekers  what  time  Miss  Vennor  should  be 
passing  the  Tadmor.  But  Vhomme  propose, 
et  lafemme 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Brockway  ;  will  you  help  me 
find  my  satchel  ?  the  one  with  the  mono^ 
gram,  you  know.  I  can't  find  it  anywhere." 
Thus  one  of  the  unescorted  ladies  whose  ma 
jor  weakness  was  a  hopeless  inability  to  keep 
in  touch  with  her  numerous  belongings. 

The  train  was  already  at  a  stand,  but 
29 


30  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Brockway  smothered  his  impatience  and 
joined  the  search  for  the  missing  hand-bag, 
contenting  himself  with  a  glimpse  of  the 
President's  daughter  as  she  passed  the  win 
dows  of  the  Tadmor.  Fleeting  as  it  was,  the 
glimpse  fired  his  heart  anew.  The  year  had 
brought  her  added  largesse  of  beauty  and 
winsomeness.  The  wind  was  blowing  free 
and  riotous,  caressing  the  soft  brown  hair 
under  the  dainty  travelling  hat,  and  twisting 
the  modest  gray  gown  into  clinging  drap^ 
eries  as  she  breasted  it.  Brockway  gazed 
and  worshipped  afresh,  and  prudence  and 
poverty-pride  vanished  when  he  observed 
that  she  was  leaning  upon  the  arm  of  an 
athletic  young  man,  whose  attitude  was 
sufficiently  lover-like  to  make  the  passenger 
agent  abjure  wisdom  and  curse  common 
sense. 

"  That's  what  I  get  for  playing  the  finical 
idiot !  "  he  groaned.  "  A  year  ago  I  might 
have  had  it  all  my  own  way  if  I  hadn't  been 
a  pride-ridden  fool.  Confound  the  money, 
anyway  ;  it's  enough  to  make  a  man  wish  it 
were  all  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  !  ' ' 

With  which  anarchistic  reflection  he  went 
out  to  arrange  for  transferring  the  Tadmor, 
and,  incidentally,  to  get  his  own  dinner. 


THE   DINNER  STATION  31 

When  the  first  was  done  there  was  scant  time 
for  the  second,  and  he  was  at  the  lunch 
counter  when  the  President's, party  went  back 
to  the  Naught-fifty. 

"Why,  they've  taken  on  another  car/' 
said  Gertrude,  noticing  the  change. 

"  No,"  her  father  rejoined,  shortly  ;  "  we 
have  a  passenger  agent  on  board,  and  he 
has  seen  fit  to  put  his  excursionists'  car  in 
the  rear. ' ' 

At  the  word,  Gertrude's  thoughts  went 
baek  to  a  certain  afternoon  filled  with  a 
swift  rush  down  a  precipitous  canyon,  with 
a  brawling  stream  at  the  track -side,  and  a 
simple-hearted  young  man,  knowing  naught 
of  the  artificialities  and  much  of  the  things 
that  are,  at  her  elbow. 

The  train  of  reflection  paused  when  they 
reached  the  sitting-room  of  the  private  car, 
but  it  went  on  again  when  the  President's 
daughter  had  curled  herself  into  the  depths 
of  a  great  wicker  sleepy-hollow  to  watch  the 
unending  procession  of  stubble-fields  slip 
ping  past  the  car  window.  How  artlessly 
devoted  he  had  been,  this  earnest  young 
private  in  the  great  business  army ;  so  dif 
ferent  from — well,  from  Chester  Fleet  well, 
for  example.  Chester's  were  the  manners 


32  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

of  a  later  day;  a  day  in  which  the  purely 
social  distinctions  of  sex  are  much  ignored. 
That,  too,  was  pleasant,  in  its  way.  And 
yet  there  was  something  very  charming  in 
the  elder  fashion. 

And  Mr.  Brockway  knew  his  role  and 
played  it  well — if,  indeed,  it  were  a  role, 
which  she  very  much  doubted.  Old  school 
manners  are  not  to  be  put  on  and  off  like 
a  garment,  nor  is  sincerity  to  be  aped  as  a 
fad.  Just  here  reflection  became  specula 
tive.  What  had  become  of  Mr.  Brockway 
since  their  "  Mormon  day  ' '  ?  Had  he  gone 
on  with  his  school-mistresses  and  ended  by 
marrying  one  of  them  ?  There  was  some 
thing  repellent  in  the  thought  of  his  marry 
ing  any  one,  but  when  reason  demand 
ed  a  reason,  Gertrude's  father  had  joined 
her. 

"  I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  have  dinner 
in  the  car/'  the  President  said,  drawing  up 
a  chair.  "I  stumbled  upon  a  young  me 
chanic  when  I  went  forward  to  inquire 
about  the  eating-station,  and  he  agreed  to 
repair  the  range  this  afternoon." 

"  How  fortunate  !  " 

"  Yes,"  the  President  rejoined  ;  and  then 
he  began  to  debate  with  himself  as  to  the 


THE  DINNER  STATION  33 

strict  truth  of  the  affirmative,  and  the  con 
versation  languished. 

Meanwhile,  Brockway  had  hastened  out 
to  the  engine  at  the  cry  of  "  All  aboard  !  " 
The  828  was  sobbing  for  the  start  when  he 
climbed  to  the  foot-board,  and  the  engineer, 
who  knew  him,  grinned  knavishly. 

"  Better  get  you  some  overclothes  if  you're 
goin'  to  ride  up  here,"  he  suggested. 

"  I'm  not  going  to  stay.  Lend  me  a 
pair  of  overalls,  and  a  jumper,  and  a  pair 
of  pipe-tongs,  and  a  hammer,  and  a  few 
other  things,  will  you  ?  ' ' 

61  Sure  thing,"  said  the  man  at  the  throt 
tle.  "  What's  up?  One  o'  your  tourists 
broke  a  side -rod  ?  " 

Brockway  laughed  and  dropped  easily 
into  the  technical  figure  of  speech. 

"  No  ;  crown-sheet's  down  in  the  Naught- 
fifty's  cook -stove,  and  I'm  going  to  jack  it 
up." 

"  Good  man,"  commented  the  engineer, 
who  rejoiced  in  Brockway 's  happy  lack  of 
departmental  pride.  "  Help  yourself  to 
anything  you  can  find." 

Brockway  found  a  grimy  suit  of  over- 
clothes  and  took  off  his  coat. 

"Goin'    to   put    'em    on   here   and    go 


34  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

through  the  train  in  uniform  ?  ' '  laughed 
the  engineer. 

"  Why  not?"  Brockway  demanded. 
"I'm  not  ashamed  of  the  blue  denim  yet. 
Wore  it  too  long. ' ' 

He  donned  the  craftsman's  uniform. 
The  garments  were  a  trifle  short  at  the  ex 
tremities,  but  they  more  than  made  up  for 
the  lack  equatorially. 

"How's  that  for  a  lightning  change?" 
he  shouted,  trying  to  make  himself  heard 
above  the  din  and  clangor  of  the  engine. 
"  Just  hang  on  to  my  coat  and  hat  till  I  get 
back,  and  I'll  swap  with  you  again."  And 
gathering  up  the  handful  of  tools,  he  climbed 
back  over  the  coal  and  disappeared  through 
the  door  of  the  mail  car. 


AT   THE    MEETING-POINT 

BROCKWAY  made  his  way  unrecognized 
through  the  train,  and  found  the  Falstaffian 
cook  awaiting  him  in  the  kitchen  of  the 
Naught-fifty.  Five  minutes  later,  he  was 
hard  at  work  on  the  disabled  stove,  quite 
reckless  of  soot  and  grime,  and  intent  only 
upon  making  a  workmanlike  job  of  the  re 
pairs.  The  narrow  compartment  was  none 
too  well  ventilated,  and  he  was  soon  work 
ing  in  an  atmosphere  rivalling  that  of  the 
hot-room  in  a  Turkish  bath.  Wherefore  he 
wrought  arduously,  and  in  due  time  the 
leaky  joint  was  made  whole. 

After  turning  the  water  on  and  satisfying 
himself  of  the  fact,  Brockway  crawled  out 
from  behind  the  range  and  got  upon  his  feet 
with  a  sigh  of  relief.  Just  then  the  portway 
into  the  waiter's  pantry  filled  with  faces  like 
the  arch  of  a  proscenium-box  in  a  theatre. 
Brockway  wheeled  quickly  at  the  sound  of 
35 


36  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

voices  and  saw  the  President,  one  young 
woman  with  eye-glasses  and  another  with 
out,  a  clean-faced  young  man  with  uncut 
hair,  and — Miss  Vennor. 

"Ha!"  said  the  President,  with  the 
King  George  Fourth  smile  and  his  coldest 
stare;  "  we  caught  you  fairly  in  the  midst 
of  it,  didn't  we,  Mr.  Brockway?  Do  you 
still  assert  that  we  shall  dine  at  our  own 
table  this  evening?" 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Vennor' s  dramatic  little 
surprise  was  varied  and  not  altogether  as  he 
had  prefigured.  As  for  the  person  most 
deeply  concerned,  no  one  was  ever  less 
ashamed  of  a  craftsman's  insignia  than  was 
Brockway  ;  but  when  he  saw  that  the  Presi 
dent  had  permitted  him  to  do  a  service  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  making  him  appear  ridic 
ulous,  his  heart  was  hot  in  just  proportion  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  affront. 

As  for  Gertrude,  she  could  have  wept 
with  pity  and  indignation.  This  was  the 
"young  mechanic"  her  father  had  found 
and  used,  only  to  make  him  a  laughing 
stock  !  The  light  of  a  sudden  purpose 
flashed  in  the  steady  gray  eyes,  and  she  spoke 
quickly,  before  Brockway  could  reply  to  her 
father's  gibe. 


AT  THE  MEETING-POINT  37 

"  Why,  Mr.  Brockway  !  where  did  you 
come  from  ?  It  really  seems  that  you  are 
fated  to  be  our  good  angel.  .s-Have  you  act 
ually  got  it  repaired  ?  ' '  The  winsome  face 
disappeared  from  the  portway,  and  before 
Brockway  could  open  his  lips  she  was  stand 
ing  beside  him.  "  Show  me  what  was  the 
matter  with  it,"  she  said. 

He  obeyed,  with  proper  verbal  circum 
stance,  gaining  a  little  self-possession  with 
every  added  phrase.  Gertrude  led  him  on, 
laughing  and  chatting  and  dragging  the 
others  into  the  rescue  until  Brockway  quite 
forgot  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  a  laughing 
stock  for  gods  and  men. 

"I'm  very  glad  to  meet  you,  I'm  sure," 
he  said,  bowing  gravely  to  the  Misses  Beas- 
wicke,  when  Gertrude  had  actually  gone  the 
length  of  introducing  him  ;  "Mr.  Fleetwell, 
I've  heard  of  you — and  that's  probably  more 
than  you  can  say  of  me.  Mr.  Vennor,  I 
think  you  may  safely  count  upon  having  your 
dinner  in  the  Naught-fifty. ' ' 

"Yes,  thanks  to  you,"  said  Gertrude, 
quickly.  "  Have  you — will  your  other  en 
gagements  let  you  join  us  ?  " 

Brockway  was  of  four  different  minds  in 
as  many  seconds.  Here  was  a  chance  to  de- 


38  A  ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

feat  Mr.  Vennor  at  his  own  game  ;  and  love 
added  its  word.  But  he  could  not  consent 
to  break  unwelcome  bread,  and  was  about  to 
excuse  himself  when  the  President,  in  answer 
to  an  imperative  signal  flying  in  Gertrude's 
eyes,  seconded  the  invitation. 

"Yes,  come  in  and  join  us,  Mr.  Brock- 
way;  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  you,  I'm 
sure."  The  stony  stare  which  accompanied 
the  words  was  anything  but  hospitable,  but 
the  President  felt  that  he  had  done  his  whole 
duty  and  something  over  and  above. 

Brockway  hesitated  a  moment,  glanced  at 
Gertrude,  and  accepted.  Then  he  began  to 
gather  up  the  tools.  Gertrude  caught  up  her 
skirts  and  stepped  into  the  vestibule  to  give 
him  room. 

"You'll  not  disappoint  us,  will  you?" 
she  said,  by  way  of  leave-taking.  "You 
may  come  as  early  as  you  please.  I  want 
you  to  meet  Cousin  Jeannette." 

The  port  way  proscenium -box  was  empty 
by  this  time,  and  Brockway  dropped  his  tools 
and  spoke  his  mind. 

' ( Miss  Vennor,  I  know,  and  you  know,  that 
I  ought  not  to  come  at  all.  It  was  awfully 
good  of  you  to  ask  me,  but ' ' 

"  But  what?  "  she  said,  encouragingly. 


AT  THE  MEETING-POINT  39 

"  I  think  you  must  understand  what  I 
want  to  say  and  can't,"  he  went  on.  "  You 
saw  that  I  was  like  to  be  overtaken  by  a  fit 
of  very  foolish  self-consciousness,  and  you 
were  kind  enough  to  come  to  my  rescue.  I 
appreciate  it,  but  I  don't  want  to  take  un 
due  advantage  of  it." 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  you  mean," 
she  laughed.  "We  shall  look  for  you  be 
tween  six  and  seven.  And  you'll  come, 
because  I'm  going  to  run  away  now,  before 
you  have  a  chance  to  retract.  Good-by — 
till  this  evening." 


VI 

REGARDLESS   ORDERS 

TEN  hours'  westing  from  the  Missouri 
River  takes  a  moderately  fast  train  well  into 
the  great  grazing  region  whose  name  is 
Length  and  Breadth,  and  whose  horizon  is 
like  that  of  the  sea.  Since  leaving  Antelope 
Springs,  however,  the  "Flying  Kestrel" 
had  been  lagging  a  little.  For  this  cause, 
the  supper  station  was  still  more  than  an 
hour  away  when  Brockway  deserted  his  an 
cients  and  invalids  and  crossed  the  platforms 
to  the  rear  door  of  the  private  car. 

The  admission  that  he  dreaded  the  ordeal 
is  not  to  be  set  down  to  his  discredit.  His 
life  had  been  an  arduous  struggle,  for  an  edu 
cation  and  the  necessities  first,  and  for  ad 
vancement  afterward.  In  such  a  conflict, 
utility  speedily  becomes  the  watchword,  and 
if  the  passenger  agent  were  less  of  a  worka 
day  drudge  than  his  fellows,  he  was  modestly 
unaware  of  the  fact. 

40 


REGARDLESS  ORDERS  41 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  all  the  rea 
sons  why  he  should  manage  to  get  himself 
left  behind  at  some  convenient  station  were 
given  a  hearing,  but  love  finally  triumphed, 
and  half- past  six  o'clock  found  him  at  the 
door  of  the  Naught-fifty.  Fortunately  for 
his  introduction,  the  occupants  of  the  sit 
ting-room  were  well  scattered;  and  Ger 
trude  came  forward  at  once  to  welcome  him. 

"  Thank  you  for  coming/'  she  said,  put 
ting  her  hand  in  his  with  the  cordiality  of 
an  old  friend  ;  "I  was  afraid  you  might  for 
get  us,  after  all.  Let  me  introduce  you  to 
my  cousin,  Mrs.  Dunham ;  Cousin  Jean- 
nette,  this  is  Mr.  Brockway." 

Brockway  bent  low  in  the  direction  of  an 
elderly  lady  with  a  motherly  face ;  bowed  to 
the  Misses  Beaswicke  and  to  Fleet  well,  and 
acknowledged  the  President's  nod. 

"  I'm  only  too  happy  to  be  permitted  to 
come,"  he  said  to  Gertrude,  drawing  up  a 
chair  to  make  a  group  of  three  with  the 
chaperon.  "  The  social  side  of  a  business 
man's  life  is  so  nearly  a  minus  quantity  that 
your  thoughtfulness  takes  rank  as  an  act  of 
Christian  charity." 

Gertrude  laughed  softly.  "  Tell  me  how 
a  business  man  finds  time  to  acquire  the  art 


42  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

of  turning  compliments,"  she  said ;  but  Mrs. 
Dunham  came  to  his  rescue. 

t '  I  suppose  your  occupation  keeps  you 
away  from  home  a  great  deal,  doesn't  it?  " 
she  asked. 

"  It  certainly  would  if  I  had  a  home,'7 
Brockway  replied. 

"  Do  you  have  to  travel  all  the  time?  " 

"  Rather  more  than  nine-tenths  of  it,  I 
should  say. ' ' 

' i  How  dreadfully  tiresome  it  must  be 
come  !  Of  course,  when  one  is  seeing 
things  for  the  first  time  it  is  very  interest 
ing;  but  I  should  imaging  the  car-window 
point  of  view  would  become  hackneyed  in  a 
very  little  while." 

"  It  does;  and  it  is  pathetically  unsatis 
fying  if  one  care  for  anything  more  than  a 
glimpse  of  things.  I  have  gone  up  and 
down  in  my  district  for  four  years,  and  yet 
I  know  nothing  of  the  country  or  the  peo 
ple  outside  of  a  narrow  ribbon  here  and 
there  with  a  railway  line  in  the  centre. ' ' 

"  That  isagood  thought,"  Gertrude  said. 
"  I  have  often  boasted  of  having  seen  the 
West,  but  I  believe  I  have  only  threaded  it 
back  and  forth  a  few  times." 

"That  is   all  any  of  us  do,"    Brockway 


REGARDLESS  ORDERS  43 

asserted.  "  Our  knowledge  of  the  people 
outside  of  the  railway  towns  is  very  limited. 
I  once  made  a  horseback  strip  through  the 
back  counties  of  East  Tennessee,  and  it  was 
a  revelation  to  me.  I  never  understood.un- 
til  then  the  truth  of  the  assertion  that  peo 
ple  who  live  within  sight  of  a  railway  all 
have  the  '  railway  diathesis  '." 

"  Meaning  that  they  lose  in  originality 
what  they  gain  in  sophistication?"  said 
Gertrude. 

' '  Just  that.  They  become  a  part  of  the 
moving  world  ;  and  as  the  railway  civilizing 
process  is  much  the  same  the  country  over, 
they  lose  their  identity  as  sectional  types." 

Mrs.  Dunham  leaned  back  in  her  chair 
and  began  to  make  mental  notes  with  queries 
after  them.  Mr.  Vennor  had  given  her  to 
understand  that  they  were  to  have  a  rara 
avis,  served  underdone,  for  dinner ;  and,  in 
the  kindness  of  her  heart,  she  had  determined 
to  see  that  the  "  young  artisan,"  as  her  cousin 
had  called  him,  was  not  led  on  to  his  own 
undoing.  Now,  however,  she  began  to  sus 
pect  that  some  one  had  made  a  mistake. 
This  young  man  seemed  to  be  abundantly 
able  to  fight  his  own  battles. 

"  I  presume  you  are  very  familiar  with 


44  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

this  part  of  the  country — along  your  own 
line,  Mr.  Brockway,"  she  said,  when  the 
waiter  came  in  to  lay  the  plates. 

"In  the  way  that  I  have  just  indicated, 
yes.  I  know  so  much  of  its  face  as  you  can 
see  from  this  window.  But  my  knowledge 
doesn't  go  much  beyond  the  visible  hori 
zon.  " 

"  Neither  does  mine,  but  I  can  imagine/' 
Gertrude  said. 

"Ah,  yes;  but  imagination  isn't  knowl 
edge." 

"No;  it's  often  better." 

"  Pleasanter,  you  mean;  I  grant  you 
that." 

' (  No,  I  meant  more  accurate. ' ' 

"For  instance?" 

Gertrude  smiled.  "You  are  quite  merci 
less,  aren't  you?  But  if  I  must  defend  my 
self  I  should  say  that  imagination  paints  a 
composite  picture,  out  of  drawing  as  to  de 
tails,  perhaps,  but  typically  true." 

Brockway  objected.  "  Being  unimagina 
tive,  I  can't  quite  accept  that. ' ' 

"  Can't  you  ?  That  is  what  Priscilla  Beas- 
wicke  would  call  the  disadvantage  of  being 
Occidentalized." 

"I  suppose   I  am   that,"  Brockway  ad- 


REGARDLESS  ORDERS  45 

mitted  cheerfully.  "I  can  always  breathe 
freer  out  here  between  these  wide  horizons ; 
and  the  majesty  of  this  GreaTFlatness  appeals 
to  me  even  more  than  that  of  the  moun 
tains.  ' ' 

They  followed  his  gesture.  The  sun  was 
dipping  to  the  western  edge  of  the  bare 
plain,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  ambient 
gold.  The  tawny  earth,  naked  and  limitless, 
melted  so  remotely  into  the  dusty  glow  of 
the  sky  as  to  leave  no  line  of  demarcation. 
The  lack  of  shadows  and  the  absence  of 
landmarks  confused  the  senses  until  the  flying 
train  seemed  to  stand  with  ungripping  wheels 
in  the  midst  of  a  slowly  revolving  disk  of 
yellow  flatness,  through  which  the  telegraph- 
poles  and  mile-posts  darted  with  sentient  and 
uncanny  swiftness. 

"  I  can  feel  its  sublimity,"  Gertrude  said, 
softly,  answering  his  thought ;  "  but  its  sol 
emn  unchangeableness  depresses  me.  I  love 
nature's  moods  and  tenses,  and  it  seems  flip 
pant  to  mention  such  things  in  the  presence 
of  so  much  fixity." 

Brockway  smiled.  "  The  prairie  has  its 
moods,  too.  A  little  later  in  the  year  we 
should  be  running  between  lines  of  fire,  and 
those  big  balls  of  tumbleweed  would  be  raf 


46  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ing  ahead  of  the  wind  like  small  meteors. 
Later  still,  when  the  snows  come,  it  has  its 
savage  mood,  when  anything  with  blood  in 
its  veins  may  not  go  abroad  and  live." 

"  I  suppose  you  have  been  out  here  in  a 
blizzard,  haven't  you?  "  said  the  chaperon  ; 
but  when  he  would  have  replied  there  was  a 
general  stir,  and  the  waiter  announced : 

"  Dinner  is  served/' 


VII 

A    DINNER    ON    WHEELS 

WHEN  the  President's  party  gathered  about 
the  table,  Mrs.  Dunham  placed  Brockway  at 
her  right,  with  Gertrude  beside  him.  Mr. 
Vennor  disapproved  of  the  arrangement,  but 
he  hoped  that  Priscilla  Beaswicke,  who  was 
Brockway's  vis-d-vis,  might  be  depended 
upon  to  divert  the  passenger  agent's  atten 
tion.  Miss  Beaswicke  confirmed  the  hope 
with  her  second  spoonful  of  soup  by  asking 
Brockway  what  he  thought  of  Tourguenief. 

Now,  to  the  passenger  agent,  the  great 
Russian  novelist  was  as  yet  no  more  than  a 
name,  and  he  said  so  frankly  and  took  no 
shame  therefor.  Whereupon  Mr.  Vennor  : 

"  Oh,  come,  Priscilla ;  you  mustn't  begin 
on  Mr.  Brockway  like  that.  I  fancy  he  has 
had  scant  time  to  dabble  in  your  little  intel 
lectual  fads." 

Gertrude  looked  up  quickly,  and  the  keen 
sense  of  justice  began  to  assert  itself.  Hav- 
47 


48  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ing  escaped  the  pillory  in  his  character  of 
artisan,  the  passenger  agent  was  to  be  held 
up  to  ridicule  in  his  proper  person.  Not  if 
she  could  help  it,  Gertrude  promised  her 
self;  and  she  turned  suddenly  upon  the  col 
legian. 

"What  do  you  think  of  Tourguenief, 
Cousin  Chester?17  she  asked,  amiably. 

"A  good  bit  less  than  nothing,"  an 
swered  the  athlete,  with  his  eyes  in  his  plate. 
"  What  is  there  about  him  that  we  ought  to 
know  and  don't  ?  " 

"Tell  us,  Priscilla,"  said  Gertrude,  pass 
ing  the  query  along. 

But  the  elder  Miss  Beaswicke  refused  to 
enlighten  anyone.  "  Go  and  get  his  book 
and  read  it,  as  I  did,"  she  said. 

"I  sha'n't  for  one,"  Fleetwell  declared. 
"  I  can't  read  the  original,  and  I  won't  read 
a  translation." 

"  Have  you  read  him  in  the  original, 
Priscilla?"  Gertrude  inquired,  determined 
to  push  the  subject  so  far  afield  that  it  could 
never  get  back. 

"Oh,  hush!"  said  the  elder  Miss  Beas 
wicke.  "  What  is  the  matter  with  you  two. 
I  refuse  positively  to  be  quarrelled  with." 

That  ended  the  Russian  divagation,  and 


A  DINNER  ON   WHEELS  49 

it  had  the  effect  of  making  the  table-talk  im 
personal.  This  was  precisely  what  Mr.  Ven- 
nor  desired.  What  he  meant  to  do  was  to 
set  a  conversational  pace  which  would  show 
Gertrude  that  Brock  way  was  hopelessly  out 
of  his  element  in  her  own  social  sphere. 

The  plan  succeeded  admirably.  So  far  as 
the  social  aspect  of  the  meal  was  concerned, 
the  passenger  agent  might  as  well  have  been 
dining  at  the  table  of  the  Olympians.  Art, 
literature,  Daudet's  latest  book,  and  Hen- 
riette  Ronner's  latest  group  of  cats,  the  dec 
orative  designs  in  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
and  the  renaissance  of  Buddhism  in  the  nine 
teenth  century — before  these  topics  Brock- 
way  went  hopelessly  dumb.  And  not  once 
during  the  hour  was  Mrs.  Dunham  or  Ger 
trude  permitted  to  help  him,  though  they 
both  tried  with  charitable  and  praiseworthy 
perseverance,  as  thus : 

Mrs.  Dunham,  in  a  desperate  effort  to 
ignore  the  Public  Library  :  "I'm  afraid  all 
this  doesn't  interest  you  very  much,  Mr. 
Brockway.  It's  so  fatally  easy " 

Fleetwell,  whose  opinion  touching  a  por 
tion  of  the  design  has  been  contravened  by 
Mr.  Vennor :  "I  say,  Cousin  Jeannette, 
isn't  the  Sargent  decoration  for  the  staircase 


50  A  ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

hall — "  et  sequentta,  until  Brockway  sinks 
back  into  oblivion  to  come  to  the  surface 
ten  minutes  later  at  a  summons  from  the 
other  side. 

Gertrude,  purposely  losing  the  thread  of 
Priscilla  Beaswicke's  remarks  on  the  claims 
of  theosophy  to  an  unprejudiced  hearing : 
"What  makes  you  so  quiet,  Mr.  Brockway? 
Tell  me  about  your  other  adventures  with 
the  school-teachers — after  you  left  Salt  Lake 
City,  you  know." 

Brockway,  catching  at  the  friendly  straw 
with  hope  once  more  reviving :  ' '  Then  you 
haven't  forgotten — excuse  me;  Miss  Beas- 
wicke  is  speaking  to  you. ' '  And  the  door 
shuts  in  his  face  and  leaves  him  again  in 
outer  darkness. 

In  the  nature  of  things  mundane,  even  the 
most  leisurely  dinner  cannot  last  forever. 
Brockway 's  ordeal  came  to  an  end  with  the 
black  coffee,  and  when  he  was  free  he  would 
have  vanished  quickly  if  Gertrude  had  not 
detained  him. 

"You  are  not  going  to  leave  us  at  once, 
are  you?  "  she  protested. 

«I — I  think  I'd  better  go  back  to  my 
'ancients  and  invalids/  if  you'll  excuse 
me." 


A  DINNER  ON   WHEELS  51 

Gertrude  was  conscience-stricken,  and  her 
hospitable  angel  upbraided  her  for  having 
given  her  guest  an  unthankfuLmeal.  Where 
fore  she  sought  to  make  amends. 

"  Don't  go  just  yet  unless  you  are  obliged 
to/'  she  pleaded.  "  Sit  down  and  tell  me 
about  the  schoolma'ams.  How  far  did  you 
go  with  them  ?  ' ' 

"  I  had  to  make  the  whole  blessed  cir 
cuit,"  he  said,  tarrying  willingly  enough. 

"  Do  you  often  have  such  deliciously  irre 
sponsible  people  to  convoy?  " 

"  Not  often  ;  but  the  regular  people  usual 
ly  make  up  for  it  in — well,  in  cantanker- 
ousness ;  that's  about  the  only  word  that 
will  fit  it."  Brockway  was  thinking  of  the 
exacting  majority  in  the  Tadmor. 

"And    yet  it  doesn't  make  you  misan 
thropic  ?     I  should  think  it  would.     What 
place  is  this  we  are  coming  to  ?  " 
"  Carvalho — the  supper  station." 
Gertrude  saw  her  father  coming  toward 
them  ;  she  guessed  his  purpose  and  resented 
it.     If  she  chose  to  make  kindly  amends  to 
the  passenger  agent  for  his  sorry  dinner,  she 
would  not  be  prevented. 

"  We  stop  here  a  little  while,  don't  we  ?  " 
she  asked  of  Brockway. 


52  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"Yes;  twenty  minutes  or  more.  Would 
you  like  to  go  out  for  a  breath  of  fresh 
air  ?  "  She  had  risen  and  caught  up  her 
wrap  and  hat. 

"  I  should ;  it  is  just  what  I  was  going  to 
propose.  Cousin  Jeannette,  I'm  going  to 
walk  on  the  platform  with  Mr.  Brockway. 
Come/'  she  said;  and  they  escaped  before 
Mr.  Vennor  could  overtake  them. 

Once  outside,  they  paced  up  and  down 
under  the  windows  of  the  train,  chatting 
reminiscently  of  four  bright  days  a  year 
agone,  and  shunning  the  intervening  period 
as  two  people  will  whose  lives  have  met 
and  touched  and  gone  apart  again.  At  the 
second  turn,  they  met  Mrs.  Dunham  and 
Fleetwell ;  and  at  the  third,  the  President, 
sandwiched  between  Hannah  and  Priscilla 
Beaswicke.  Whereupon  Brockway,  scent 
ing  espionage,  drew  Gertrude  away  toward 
the  engine. 

The  great,  black  bulk  of  the  heavy  ten- 
wheeler  loomed  portentous,  and  the  smoky 
flare  of  the  engineer's  torch,  as  he  thrust  it 
into  the  machinery  to  guide  the  snout  of  his 
oil-can,  threw  the  overhanging  mass  of  iron 
and  steel  into  sombre  relief. 

Brockway  shaded  his  eyes  under  his  hand 


A  DINNER  ON  WHEELS  53 

and  peered  up  at  the  number  beneath  the 
cab  window.  "  The  new  926, "  he  said; 
1 '  we'  11  get  back  some  of  our  lost  time  be 
hind  her." 

"  Do  you  know  them  all  by  name?" 
Gertrude  queried. 

"  Oh,  no;  not  all." 

"  I  suppose  you've  ridden  on  them  many 
times  ?  ' ' 

Brockway  laughed.  "  I  should  say  I 
had  —  on  both  sides,  as  the  enginemen 
say." 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  " 

"It's  slang  for  firing  and  driving;  I've 
done  a  little  of  both,  you  know." 

"I  didn't  know  it.  Isn't  it  terribly 
dangerous  ?  When  anything  happens,  the 
men  on  the  engine  are  almost  always  killed, 
aren't  they?  " 

"  When  they  are  it's  because  they  haven't 
time  to  save  themselves.  It's  all  nonsense 
— newspaper  nonsense,  mostly — about  the 
engineer  sticking  to  his  post  like  the  boy  on 
the  burning  deck.  A  man  can  do  whatever 
there  is  to  be  done  toward  stopping  his 
train  while  you  could  count  ten,  and  no 
amount  of  heroism  could  accomplish  any 
more." 


54  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  I  have  often  thought  I  should  like  to 
ride  on  an  engine,"  Gertrude  said. 

"  I  wish  I  had  known  it  earlier  in  the 
day ;  your  wish  might  have  been  gratified 
very  easily. ' ' 

"  Might  it?  I  suppose  they  never  let 
any  one  ride  on  the  night  engines,  do 
they?" 

Brockway  caught  his  breath.  "  Do  you 
mean — would  you  trust  me  to  take  you  on 
the  engine  to-night  ?  "  he  asked,  wondering 
if  he  had  heard  aright. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  she  said,  with  sweet  grav 
ity. 

The  engineer  had  oiled  his  way  around  to 
their  side,  and  Brockway  spoke  to  him. 

11  Good-evening,  Mac,"  he  said  ;  and  the 
man  turned  and  held  up  his  torch. 

"  Hello,  Fred,"  he  began;  and  then, 
seeing  Gertrude  :  "  Excuse  me,  I  didn't  see 
the  lady." 

At  a  sign  from  Gertrude,  Brockway  in 
troduced  the  engineer.  "  Miss  Vennor, 
this  is  Mr.  Maclure — one  of  our  oldest  run 
ners." 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  know  you,  Mr.  Mac- 
lure,"  said  Gertrude,  sweetly  ;  and  the  man 
of  machinery  scraped  his  feet  and  salaamed. 


A  DINNER  ON  WHEELS  55 

"  Mac,  Miss  Vennor  thinks  she  would 
like  to  take  a  night  spin  on  the  926.  May 
we  ride  a  little  way  with  you  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  should  say  !  "  assented  Maclure. 
"  Just  pile  in  and  make  yourselves  at  home ; 
and  excuse  me — I  hain't  quite  got  through 
oilin'  'round  yet." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Brockway  ;  then  to 
Gertrude  :  "  We  must  find  your  father  or 
Mrs.  Dunham  quick;  we  haven't  more  than 
a  minute  or  two." 

They  ran  back  and  fortunately  came  upon 
Mrs.  Dunham  and  the  collegian. 

"  Cousin  Jeannette,  I'm  going  to  ride  on 
the  engine  with  Mr.  Brockway,"  Gertrude 
explained,  breathlessly.  "  Don't  say  I 
sha'n't,  for  I  will.  It's  the  chance  of  a  life 
time.  Good-by ;  and  don't  sit  up  for 
me." 

"I'll  take  good  care  of  her,"  Brockway 
put  in ;  and  before  the  astonished  lady 
could  expostulate  'or  approve,  they  were 
scudding  forward  to  the  926. 


VIII 

THE   CAB   OF   THE   TEN-WHEELER 

ENGINEER  MACLURE  was  leaning  out  of 
the  cab  window,  watching  for  the  conduct 
or's  signal,  when  Brockway  and  Gertrude 
came  up. 

"  Didn't  know  but  you'd  backed  out," 
he  said,  jocosely,  when  they  had  climbed 
aboard. 

"  Oh,  no,  indeed  ;  we  had  to  get  word  to 
my  father,"  said  Gertrude. 

The  engineer  waved  them  across  the  cab. 
"  Make  yourselves  at  home;  ^e  926  be 
longs  to  you  as  long  as  you  want  to  own 
her.  Just  you  pre-empt  Johnnie's  box  over 
there,  Fred,  and  make  the  young  fady  com 
fortable." 

Brockway  stuck  a  propitiatory  cigar  into 
the  pocket  of  the  fireman's  jumper,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  carry  out  his  instructions.  Before 
the  tardy  signal  came,  Gertrude  was  perched 
upon  the  high  seat,  with  her  skirts  gathered 
56 


THE  CAB  OF  THE   TEN- WHEELER       57 

up  out  of  harm's  way,  and  Brockway  had 
fashioned  a  pad  out  of  a  bunch  of  waste  and 
tied  it  upon  the  boiler-head  .brace  at  her  feet. 

"  It's  hot,"  he  explained.  "When  she 
begins  to  roll  you  can  put  your  foot  against 
that  and  steady  yourself.  Are  you  quite 
comfortable?  " 

"  Quite;  and  you?"  She  looked  over 
her  shoulder  to  ask  the  question,  and  the 
strong  red  glow  from  the  open  door  of  the 
fire-box  glorified  the  sweet  face. 

"Comfortable?  No,  that  is  hardly  the 
word  for  it" — he  tried  the  window- fasten 
ing,  that  he  might  have  an  excuse  for  bend 
ing  over  her — "I'm  happy;  happy  to  my 
finger-tips.  Do  you  know  why  ?  ' ' 

He  sought  to  look  up  into  her  face,  but  at 
that  moment  the  red  glow  of  the  fire-light 
went  out  suddenly  with  the  crash  of  the 
closing  door,  and  the  clangor  of  the  bell 
made  her  reply  inaudible.  None  the  less, 
by  the  dim,  half  light  of  the  gauge -lamp  he 
saw  her  eyelashes  droop  and  her  lips  say  No. 

For  a  passing  instant  the  social  barriers 
went  down  and  became  as  though  they  never 
were.  Standing  beside  her  and  blessing  the 
clamor  that  isolated  them,  he  said : 

"  Because  I  am  here  with  you;  because, 


58  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

no  matter  what  happens  to  either  of  us  in 
the  future,  no  one  can  ever  rob  me  of  this." 

He  half  expected  a  rebuke,  and  waited  a 
moment  with  becoming  humility.  When  it 
did  not  come,  he  swung  himself  into  the  seat 
behind  her  and  held  his  peace  until  she  spoke 
again.  That  was  five  full  minutes  afterward. 
For  that  length  of  time  Gertrude  was  crushed 
under  an  avalanche  of  new  sensations.  The 
last  switch-light  in  the  Carvalho  yards  had 
flashed  to  the  rear,  and  the  926  was  quick 
ening  her  speed  with  sharp  little  forward 
lunges  under  Maclure's  skilful  goading.  The 
dizzying  procession  of  grayish-white  tele 
graph-poles  hurling  itself  past  the  cab  win 
dows  ;  the  thousand  clangorous  voices  of  the 
great  machine  ;  the  intermittent  glare  from 
the  fire-box  door,  alternating  with  the  fiery 
shower  of  sparks  pouring  from  the  smoke 
stack — it  was  a  bit  of  pandemonium  de 
tached  and  dashing  through  space,  and  she 
sat  cowed  and  stunned  by  the  rush  and  the 
uproar.  But  presently  the  warm  wine  of 
excitement  began  to  quicken  her-  heart 
beats. 

"  Isn't  it  glorious!"  she  exclaimed,  try 
ing  to  look  back  at  him. 

It  is  quite  possible  for  two  persons  to  con- 


THE  CAB  OF  THE   TEN-WHEELER       59 

verse  in  the  cab  of  a  flying  locomotive,  but 
the  factor  of  distance  must  be  eliminated. 
Wherefore  he  bent  over  he*  till  his  mustache 
brushed  the  pink  ear. 

"  I  am  glad  you  like  it.  Are  you  still  quite 
comfortable  ? ' ' 

"  Yes,  indeed  ;  thank  you.  How  fast  are 
we  going  now  ?  ' ' 

"  About  twenty-five  miles  an  hour;  but 
we'll  double  that  when  Maclure  gets  her 
warmed  up." 

"  Double  it !  Why,  we  seem  to  be  fairly 
^ving  now  !  " 

"  Wait,"  said  Brockway. 

Maclure  was  sitting  sphynx-like  on  his 
box,  coming  to  life  now  and  then  to  reduce 
the  angle  of  the  reversing-lever,  or  to  in 
crease  that  of  the  throttle.  The  fireman 
labored  steadily,  swaying  back  and  forth  be 
tween  the  coal-chute  and  the  fire-box  door, 
his  close-fitting  cap  on  the  back  of  his  head, 
and  Brockway's  cigar, — unlighted,  in  defer 
ence  to  Gertrude. — between  his  teeth. 

"  What  dreadfully  hard  work  it  must  be 
to  shovel  coal  that  way  all  night,"  Gertrude 
said,  following  the  rhythmic  swing  of  the 
fireman's  sinewy  figure  with  her  eyes. 

"  He's  getting  his  fire  into  shape,  now," 


60  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Brockway  explained.     "  He'll  have  it  easier 
after  a  bit," 

"  Why  doesn't  he  smoke  his  cigar  ?  " 

Brockway  smiled.  "  Because,  down  under 
the  grime  and  coal-dust  and  other  disguises, 
there  is  a  drop  or  two  of  gentle  blood,  I 
fancy." 

"  You  mean  it's  because  I'm  here  ?  Please 
tell  him  to  light  his  cigar,  if  he  wants  to." 

Brockway  obeyed,  and  the  fireman  un 
bent  and  bobbed  his  head  in  Gertrude's 
direction.  "  Thank  ye,  ma'am,"  he 
shouted,  with  a  good-natured  grin  on  his 
boyish  face;  "but  I'm  thinkin'  a  dhry 
smoke's  good  enough  for  the  lady's  car" — 
and  he  bent  to  his  work  again,  while  the 
endless  procession  of  telegraph-poles  hurtled 
past  with  ever-increasing  swiftness,  and  the 
sharp  blasts  of  the  exhaust  lost  their  inter- 
mittence,  and  became  blent  in  a  continuous  < 
roar. 

Presently,  the  laboring  engine  began  to 
heave  and  roll  like  a  storm-tossed  vessel, 
and  Gertrude  was  fain  to  make  use  of  the 
foot-rest.  Being  but  a  novice,  she  made 
unskilful  work  of  it ;  and  when  her  foot 
slipped  for  the  third  time,  Brockway  took 
his  courage  in  both  hands. 


THE  CAB  OF  THE  TEN-WHEELER       61 

<  <  Just  lean  back  and  brace  yourself 
against  my  shoulder,"  he  said ;  "  I'm  afraid 
you' 11  get  a  fall." 

She  did  it,  and  he  held  himself  in  watch 
ful  readiness  to  catch  her  if  she  should  lose 
her  balance. 

"Is  that  better  ?" 

She  nodded.  "  Much  better,  thank  you. 
Have  we  doubled  it  yet  ?  ' ' 

Brockway  took  out  his  watch  and  timed 
the  revolutions  of  the  flying  drive- wheels. 
"  Not  quite,  but  we're  bettering  the  sched 
ule  by  several  miles.  Do  you  still  enjoy 
it?" 

"  Yes,  much ;  but  it's  very  dreadful,  isn't 
it  ?  I  don't  see  how  he  dares  !  " 

"Who?     Maclure?" 

"Yes;  or  anyone  else.  To  me  it  seems 
braver  than  anything  I  ever  read  of — to 
drive  a  great  thing  like  this  with  so  many 
precious  lives  behind  it.  The  responsibility 
must  be  terrible." 

"  It  would  be  if  a  fellow  thought  of  it  all 
the  time  ;  but  one  doesn't,  you  know.  Now 
I'll  venture  a  guess  that  Mac  is  just  speculat 
ing  as  to  how  much  of  the  '  Kestrel's  '  lost 
time  he  can  get  back  between  this  and  the 
end  of  his  run." 


62  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

But  the  shrewd  old  pioneer  with  the  Scot 
tish  name  was  thinking  of  no  such  prosaic 
thing.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  wondering 
who  Miss  Vennor  was ;  if  she  would  be  a 
worthy  helpmate  for  the  passenger  agent ; 
and  if  so,  how  he  could  help  matters  along. 

The  switch-lights  of  Arriba  were  twinkling 
in  the  distance,  and  his  hand  was  on  the 
whistle-lever,  when  the  engineer  reached  a 
conclusion.  The  next  instant  Gertrude 
shrieked  and  would  have  tumbled  ignomini- 
ously  into  the  fireman's  scoop  if  Brockway 
had  not  caught  her. 

"  How  silly  of  me  !  "  she  said,  shame 
facedly.  "  One  would  think  I  had  never 
heard  a  locomotive  whistle  before.  But  it 
was  so  totally  unexpected. " 

"  I  should  have  warned  you,  but  I  didn't 
think.  This  is  Arriba  ;  do  you  want  to  go 
back?" 

Gertrude  was  enjoying  herself  keenly, 
after  a  certain  barbaric  and  unfettered 
fashion  hitherto  undreamed  of,  and  she  was 
tempted  to  drink  a  little  deeper  from  the 
cup  of  freedom  before  going  back  to  the 
proprieties.  Moreover,  there  was  doubtless 
a  goodly  measure  of  reproof  awaiting  her, 
and  when  she  remembered  this,  she  de- 


THE  CAB  OF  THE  TEN-WHEELER       63 

termined  to  get  the  full  value  of  the  casti- 
gation. 

"I'll  go  on,  if  you'll  letjne,"  she  said. 

"  Let  you  !  "  Brockway  had  been  trem 
bling  for  fear  his  little  bubble  of  joy  was  about 
to  burst,  and  would  have  multiplied  words. 
But  before  he  could  say  more,  the  926 
thundered  past  the  station  and  came  to  a 
stand. 

Maclure  released  the  air-brake,  and  clam 
bering  down  from  his  box,  dragged  the  pas 
senger  agent  from  his  seat  and  so  out  to  the 
gangway. 

"Say,  Fred,  is  she  goin'  back?"  he 
whispered. 

"  No,  not  just  yet." 

"  Bully  for  her  ;  she's  got  sand,  she  has. 
Reckon  you  could  run  a  spell  and  talk  to 
her  at  the  same  time  ?  ' ' 

Brockway's  nerves  tingled  at  the  bare 
suggestion.  "  Try  me  and  see,"  he  said. 

"It's  ago,"  said  Maclure.  "Get  her 
over  there  on  my  side,  and  I'll  smoke  me  a 
pipe  out  o'  Johnnie's  window.  Swear  to 
bob  I  won't  look  around  once !  " 


IX 

FIFTY    MILES   AN   HOUR 

"  LET  me  promote  you,  Miss  Vennor," 
Brockway  said,  helping  Gertrude  to  the 
foot -board ;  "  Mr.  Maclure  says  you  may 
have  his  seat  for  awhile. ' ' 

Gertrude  acquiesced  unquestioningly. 
For  some  cause  as  yet  unclassified,  acqui 
escence  seemed  to  be  quite  the  proper  thing 
when  she  was  with  Brockway,  though  docil 
ity  with  others  was  not  her  most  remarkable 
characteristic.  When  she  was  safely  be 
stowed,  Maclure  rang  the  bell  and  gave 
Brockway  his  instructions. 

"Next  stop's  Red  Butte — twenty-seven 
miles — thirty-eight  minutes  o'  card-time — no 
allowance  for  slowin'  down  at  Corral  Siding. 
And  if  you  can  twist  'em  any  quicker,  do  it. 
Turn  her  loose." 

The  engineer  betook  himself  to  the  fire 
man's  box,  and  Brockway's  resolution  was 
taken  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 
64 


FIFTY   MILES  AN  HOUR  65 

"  Do  just  as  I  tell  you,  Miss  Vennor,  and 
I'll  give  you  a  brand-new  experience/'  he 
said,  quickly.  "  Take  hold  of  this  lever  and 
pull — both  hands — pull  hard  !  " 

Gertrude  did  it  simply  because  she  was 
told  to,  and  it  was  not  until  the  engine 
lunged  forward  that  she  understood  what  it 
was  she  was  doing.  "  Oh,  Mr.  Brockway — 
I  can't!"  she  cried;  "it  won't  mind 
me!  " 

"Yes,  it  will;  I'll  show  you  how.  Push 
it  back  a  little  ;  you  mustn't  tear  your  fire. 
There ;  let  her  make  a  few  turns  at  that. ' ' 

Gertrude  clung  to  the  throttle  as  if  she 
were  afraid  it  was  alive  and  would  escape, 
but  her  eyes  sparkled  and  the  flush  of  excite 
ment  mounted  swiftly  to  cheek  and  brow. 

"  Now  give  her  a  little  more — just  a  notch 
or  two — that's  enough.  You  needn't  hold 
it;  it  won't  run  away,"  Brockway  said, 
laughing  at  her. 

"I  shall  go  daft  if  I  don't  hold  some 
thing  !  Oh,  please,  Mr.  Brockway  !  I  know 
I  shall  smash  everything  into  little  bits  ! ' ' 

"No,  you  won't;  I  sha'n't  let  you.  A 
little  more  steam,  if  you  please;  that's  right. 
Now  take  hold  of  this  lever  with  both  hands, 
brace  yourself  and  pull  steadily. ' ' 


66  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

The  reversing-lever  of  a  big  ten-wheeler 
is  no  child's  plaything,  and  he  stood  ready 
to  help  her  if  she  could  not  manage  it.  But 
Miss  Vennor  did  manage  it,  though  the  first 
notch  or  two  had  to  be  fought  for;  and 
Maclure,  who  had  quite  forgotten  his  prom 
ise  not  to  look  on,  applauded  enthusiasti 
cally. 

"  Good  !  "  said  Brockway,  approvingly  ; 
"  you  are  doing  famously.  Now  a  little 
more  throttle  ;  that's  enough. " 

The  926  forged  ahead  obediently,  and 
Gertrude  began  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
the  thing. 

' '  This  is  simply  Titanic !  '  '  she  exclaimed. 
"What  shall  I  do  next  ?" 

"  Cut  her  back  a  little  more/'  Brockway 
commanded  ;  "  two  notches.  Now  a  little 
more  steam — more  yet ;  that  will  do." 

The  great  engine  lunged  forward  like  a 
goaded  animal,  and  Gertrude  sat  up  very 
straight  and  clung  to  the  reversing-lever 
when  the  cab  began  to  lurch  and  sway.  But 
she  obeyed  Brock  way's  directions  promptly 
and  implicitly. 

"  Don't  be  afraid  of  her,"  he  said.  "You 
have  a  clear  track  and  a  heavy  rail. ' ' 

"I'm  not  afraid,"  she  asserted;    "I'm 


FIFTY  MILES  AN  HOUR  67 

miles  beyond  that,  now.  If  anything  should 
happen,  we'd  all  be  dead  before  we  found  it 
out,  so  I  can  be  perfectly  reckless." 

Mile  after  mile  of  the  level  plain  swept 
backward  under  the  drumming  wheels,  and 
Brockway's  heart  made  music  within  him 
because  it  had  some  little  fragment  of  its  de 
sire.  In  order  to  see  the  track  through  the 
front  window  of  the  cab,  he  had  to  lean  his 
elbow  on  the  cushion  beside  her,  and  it 
brought  them  very  near — nearer,  he  thought, 
than  they  would  ever  be  again. 

Gertrude  was  much  too  full  of  the  magni 
tude  of  things  to  care  to  talk,  but  she  was 
finally  moved  to  ask  another  question. 

( '  Are  we  really  running  along  on  the  rails 
just  like  any  well-behaved  train  ?  It  seems  to 
me  we  must  have  left  the  track  quite  a  while 
ago." 

Brockway  laughed.  "  You  would  know  it, 
if  we  had.  Do  you  see  those  two  little  yel 
low  lights  away  out  ahead  ?  ' ' 

"  Yes;  what  are  they  ?  " 

"They  are  the  switch-lights  at  Corral 
Siding.  Take  hold  of  this  lever  and  blow 
the  whistle  yourself;  then  it  won't  startle 
you  so  much." 

Gertrude  did  that,  also,  although  it  was 


68  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

more  trying  to  her  nerves  than  all  that  had 
gone  before.  Then  Brockway  showed  her 
how  to  reduce  speed. 

' '  Push  the  throttle  in  as  far  as  it  will  go ; 
that's  right.  Now  the  reversing-lever — both 
hands,  and  brace  yourself — that's  it.  Now 
take  hold  of  this  handle  and  twist  it  that 
way — slowly — more  yet — "  the  air  whistled 
shrilly  through  the  vent,  and  the  song  of  the 
brake-shoes  on  the  wheels  of  the  train  rose 
above  the  discordant  clangor — "that  will 
do — turn  it  back/7  he  added,  when  the 
speed  had  slackened  sufficiently ;  and  he 
leaned  forward  with  his  hand  on  the  brake- 
lever  and  scanned  the  approaching  side-track 
with  practised  eyes. 

"All  clear!"  he  announced,  springing 
back  quickly.  "Pull  up  this  lever  again, 
and  give  her  steam. ' ' 

Gertrude  obeyed  like  an  automaton, 
though  she  blenched  a  little  when  the  small 
station  building  at  the  Siding  roared  past, 
and  in  a  few  seconds  the  926  was  again  bet 
tering  the  schedule. 

"How  fast  are  we  going  now?"  she 
asked,  when  the  engine  was  once  more 
pitching  and  rolling  like  a  laboring  ship. 

Brockwav    consulted    his    watch.       "A 


FIFTY  MILES  AN  HOUR  69 

little  over  fifty  miles  an  hour,  I  should  say. 
You  will  be  quite  safe  in  calling  it  that, 
anyway,  when  you  tell  your^  friends  that 
you  have  run  a  fast  express  train. " 

"They'll  never  believe  it,"  she  said; 
"but  I  wouldn't  have  missed  it  for  the 
world.  What  must  I  do  now  ? — watch  the 
track?" 

Brockway  said  "Yes,"  though,  with  all 
his  interest  in  other  things,  he  had  not 
omitted  that  very  important  part  of  an  en 
gineer's  duty  from  the  moment  of  leaving 
Arriba.  After  a  roaring  silence  of  some 
minutes,  during  which  Brockway  gave  him 
self  once  more  to  the  divided  business  of 
scanning  the  rails  and  burning  sweet  incense 
on  the  altar  of  his  love,  she  spoke  again. 

"What  is  that  we  are  coming  to,  away 
out  there?"  she  asked,  trying  vainly  to 
steady  herself  for  a  clearer  view. 

"  The  lights  of  Red  Butte,"  he  answered, 
relaxing  his  vigilance  for  the  moment  at  the 
thought  that  his  little  side-trip  into  the  land 
of  joy  would  so  shortly  come  to  an  end. 

"No,  I  don't  mean  those!"  she  ex 
claimed,  excitedly;  "but  this  side  of  the 
lights.  Don't  you  see? — on  the  track  !  " 

Brockway   allowed   himself  but   a  single 


70  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

swift  glance.  Half-way  between  the  flying 
train  and  the  station  the  line  crossed  a 
shallow  sand  creek  on  a  low  trestle.  On 
both  sides  of  the  swale,  crowding  upon  the 
track  and  filling  the  bed  of  the  creek,  was  a 
mass  of  moving  forms,  against  which  the 
lines  of  glistening  rails  ended  abruptly. 

At  such  a  crisis,  the  engineer  in  a  man,  if 
any  there  be,  asserts  itself  without  refer 
ence  to  the  volitional  nerve-centres.  In  the 
turning  of  a  leaf,  Brockway  had  thrown 
himself  upon  the  throttle,  dropped  the  re- 
versing-lever,  set  the  air-brake,  and  opened 
the  sand-box ;  while  Maclure,  seeing  that 
his  substitute  was  equal  to  the  emergency, 
woke  the  echoes  with  the  whistle.  A  hun 
dred  yards  from  the  struggling  mass  of 
frightened  cattle,  Brockway  saw  that  the 
air-brake  was  not  holding. 

"  Don't  move!  "  he  cried;  and  Gertrude 
cowered  in  her  corner  as  the  heavy  revers- 
ing-lever  came  over  with  a  crash,  and  the 
great  engine  heaved  and  buckled  in  the 
effort  to  check  its  own  momentum. 

It  was  all  over  before  she  could  cry  out 
or  otherwise  advertise  her  very  natural  ter 
ror.  The  moving  mass  had  melted  away 
before  the  measured  approach  of  the  train  ; 


FIFTY  MILES  AN   HOUR  7* 

the  trestle  had  rumbled  under  the  wheels; 
and  the  926  was  steaming  swiftly  up  to  the 
station  under  Brockway's  guidance. 

' <  Have  you  had  more  than  enough?" 
he  asked,  when  he  had  brought  the  train  to 
a  stand  opposite  the  platform  at  Red  Butte. 

"Yes — no,  not  that,  either,"  she  added, 
quickly.  "I'm  glad  to  have  had  a  taste  of 
the  real  danger  as  well.  But  I  think  I'd 
better  go  back;  it's  getting  late,  isn't  it?  " 

"Yes.  Mac,  we  resign.  Sorry  I  had  to 
put  your  old  tea-kettle  in  the  back-gear; 
but  the  air  wasn't  holding,  and  we  didn't 
want  any  chipped  beef  for  supper.  Good 
night,  and  many  thanks.  Don't  pull  out 
till  I  give  you  the  signal." 

They  hurried  down  the  platform  arm-in 
arm,  and  Gertrude  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"  Didn't  you  think  we  were  all  going  to 
be  killed?" 

"  No  ;  but  I  did  think  I  should  never  for 
give  myself  if  anything  happened  to  you." 

"  It  wouldn't  have  been  your  fault.  And 
I've  had  a  glorious  bit  of  distraction;  I 
shall  remember  it  as  long  as  I  live." 

"  Yes  ;  you  have  actually  driven  a  train 
fifty  miles  an  hour,"  laughed  Brockway, 
handing  her  up  the  steps  of  car  Naught-fifty. 


72  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  I  have ;  and  now  I  shall  go  in  and  be 
scolded  eighty  miles  an  hour  to  pay  for  it. 
But  I  sha'n't  mind  that.  Good-night,  and 
thank  you  ever  so  much.  We  shall  see  you 
in  the  morning?  " 

"Yes."  Brockway  said  it  confidently, 
and  gave  a  tug  at  the  bell-cord,  to  let  Mac- 
lure  know  they  were  safely  aboard;  but 
when  the  door  of  the  private  car  had  yawned 
and  swallowed  Miss  Vennor,  he  remembered 
the  President's  probable  frame  of  mind,  and 
thought  it  doubtful. 


A   CONFIDENCE    EN   ROUTE 

WHEN  Brock  way  pulled  the  bell -cord,  he 
meant  to  drop  off  and  wait  till  the  Tadmor 
came  along — a  manoeuvre  which  would  en 
able  him  to  rejoin  his  party  without  intrud 
ing  on  the  President's  privacy.  Then  that 
reflection  about  Mr.  Vennor's  probable  frame 
of  mind,  and  the  thought  that  the  late  ex 
cursion  into  the  fair  country  of  joy  would 
doubtless  never  be  repeated,  came  to  delay 
him,  and  he  let  the  train  get  under  way 
before  he  remembered  what  it  was  that  he 
had  intended  doing.  Whereupon,  he  scoffed 
at  his  own  infatuation,  and  went  into  the 
Ariadne  to  chat  with  the  Burtons  until  an 
other  halt  should  give  him  a  chance  to  get 
back  to  the  Tadmor. 

The  route  to  the  body  of  the  car  led  past 

the  smoking-room,  and  the  passenger  agent, 

having  missed  his   after-dinner    cigar,    was 

minded  to  turn  aside.     But  the  place  was 

73 


74  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

crowded,  and  he  hung  hesitant  upon  the 
threshold. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Burton,  who  was  one 
of  the  smokers. 

"  No,  I  believe  not ;  there  are  too  many 
of  you.  I'll  go  and  talk  to  Mrs.  Burton." 

"  Do ;  she's  spoiling  to  quiz  you." 

"  To  quiz  me  ?     What  about  ?  ' ' 

"You  wouldn't  expect  me  to  tell,  if  I 
knew.  Go  on  and  find  out." 

Brockway  went  forward  with  languid  cu 
riosity. 

"  I  thought  you  had  quite  deserted  us," 
said  the  little  lady.  "  Sit  down  and  give  an 
account  of  yourself.  Where  have  you  been 
all  afternoon  ?  ' ' 

'  'With  my  ancients  and  invalids," 
Brockway  replied. 

Mrs.  Burton  shook  a  warning  finger  at 
him.  "Don't  begin  by  telling  me  fibs. 
Miss  Vennor  is  neither  old  nor  infirm." 

Brockway  reddened  and  made  a  shame 
less  attempt  to  change  the  subject. 

"  How  did  you  like  the  supper  at  Car- 
valho*?  "  he  asked. 

The  general  agent's  wife  laughed  as  one 
who  refuses  to  be  diverted.  "  Neither  better 
nor  worse  than  you  did.  We  had  a  buffet 


A  CONFIDENCE  EN   ROUTE  75 

luncheon — baked  beans  and  that  exquisite 
tomato-catchup,  you  know — served  in  our 
section,  and  we  saw  one  act  ,of  a  charming 
little  comedy  playing  itself  on  the  platform 
at  the  supper  station.  Be  nice  and  tell  me 
all  about  it.  Did  the  cold-blooded  gentle 
man  with  the  overseeing  eyes  succeed  in 
overtaking  you  ? ' ' 

Brockway  saw  it  was  no  use,  and  laughed 
good-naturedly.  "  You  are  a  born  detec 
tive,  Mrs.  Burton;  I  wouldn't  be  in  Bur 
ton's  shoes  for  a  farm  in  the  Golden  Belt," 
he  retorted.  "  How  much  did  you  really 
see,  and  how  much  did  you  take  for  grant 
ed?" 

"  I  saw  a  young  man,  who  didn't  take 
the  trouble  to  keep  his  emotions  out  of  his 
face,  marching  up  and  down  the  platform 
with  Miss  Vennor  on  his  arm.  Then  I  saw 
an  elderly  gentleman  pacing  back  and  forth 
between  two  feminine  chatterboxes,  and 
trying  to  outgeneral  the  two  happy  people. 
Naturally,  I  want  to  know  more.  Did  you 
really  go  without  your  supper  to  take  a  con 
stitutional  with  Miss  Gertrude?  And  did 
the  unhappy  father  contrive  to  spoil  your 
tete-a-tete  ?  ' ' 

There  was  triumph  in  Brockway's  grin. 


76  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  No,  he  didn't — not  that  time;  I  out 
witted  him.  And  I  didn't  go  without  my 
supper,  either.  I  had  the  honor  of  dining 
with  the  President's  party  in  the  Naught- 
fifty." 

"  You  did  !  Then  I'm  sure  she  must 
have  invited  you  ;  he'd  never  do  it.  How 
did  it  happen?  " 

Brockway  told  the  story  of  the  disabled 
cooking-stove,  and  Mrs.  Burton  laughed  till 
the  tears  came.  "How  perfectly  ridicu 
lous  ! 7 '  she  exclaimed,  between  gasps.  "And 
she  took  your  part  and  invited  you  to  din 
ner,  did  she  ?  Then  what  happened  ?  ' ' 

"I  was  properly  humiliated  and  sat 
upon,"  said  Brockway,  in  wrathful  recol 
lection.  "  They  talked  about  everything 
under  the  sun  that  I'd  never  heard  of,  and 
I  had  to  sit  through  it  all  like  a  confounded 
oyster  ! ' ' 

"  Oh,  nonsense  !  "  said  Mrs.  Burton, 
sweetly;  "you  know  a  good  many  things 
that  they  never  dreamed  of.  But  how  did 
you  manage  to  get  Gertrude  away  from  them 
all?" 

"I  didn't;  she  managed  it  for  me. 
When  we  got  up  from  the  table  the  train 
was  just  slowing  into  Carvalho.  I  was  going 


A  CONFIDENCE   EN   ROUTE  77 

to  run  away,  as  befitted  me,  but  she  proposed 
a  breath  of  fresh  air  on  the  platform." 

"  Then  you  had  a  chance  to  show  her 
*that  you  weren't  born  dumb,  and  I  hope 
you  improved  it.  But  how  did  you  dodge 
Mr.  Vennor?" 

"  We  missed  a  turn  and  went  forward  to 
look  at  the  engine.  Then  Ger —  Miss  Ven 
nor  thought  she  would  like  to  take  a  ride  in 
the  cab,  and " 

"  And,  of  course,  you  arranged  it.  You 
knew  that  was  just  the  thing  of  all  others 
that  would  reinstate  you.  It  was  perfectly 
Machiavellian  !  " 

Brockway  opened  his  eyes  very  wide. 
"  Knew  what?"  he  said,  bluntly.  "I 
only  knew  it  was  the  thing  she  wanted  to 
do,  and  that  was  enough.  Well,  we  skipped 
back  and  notified  Mrs.  Dunham — she's  the 
chaperon,  you  know — and  then  we  chased 
ahead  again  and  got  on  the  engine. ' J 

1 1  Where  I'll  promise  you  she  enjoyed 
more  new  sensations  in  a  minute  than  you 
had  all  through  their  chilly  dinner,"  put  in 
Mrs.  Burton,  who  had  ridden  on  many  loco 
motives. 

"She  did,  indeed,"  Brockway  rejoined, 
exultantly,  living  over  again  the  pleasure  of 


78  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

the  brief  hour  in  the  retelling.  "  At  Ar- 
riba,  the  engineer  turned  the  926  over  to 
me,  and  I  put  Miss  Vennor  up  on  the  box 
and  let  her  run  between  Arriba  and  Red 
Butte." 

"  Well — of  all  things!  Do  you  know, 
Fred,  I've  had  a  silly  idea  all  afternoon  that 
I'd  like  to  help  you,  but  dear  me  !  you 
don't  need  my  help.  Of  course,  after  that, 
it  was  all  plain  sailing  for  you." 

Brockway  shook  his  head.  "  You're  tak 
ing  entirely  too  much  for  granted,"  he 
protested.  "It  was  only  a  pleasant  bit  of 
'  distraction/  as  she  called  it,  for  her,  and 
there  was  no  word — that  is  I — oh,  confound 
it  all !  I  couldn't  presume  on  a  bit  of  good 
comradeship  like  that !  ' ' 

"You — couldn't — presume!  Why,  you 
silly,  silly  boy,  it  was  the  chance  of  a  life 
time  !  So  daringly  original — so  utterly  un 
hackneyed  !  And  you  couldn't  presume — I 
haven't  a  bit  of  patience  with  you." 

"I'm  sorry  for  that  ;  I  need  a  little  sym 
pathy." 

"You  don't  deserve  it;  but  perhaps 
you'd  get  it  if  you  could  show  cause." 

"  Can't  you  see  ?  Don't  you  understand 
that  nothing  can  ever  come  of  it  ?  "  Brock- 


A  CONFIDENCE  EN   ROUTE  79 

way  demanded,  relapsing  fathoms  deep  into 
the  abyss  of  hopelessness. 

"  Nothing  ever  will  come  of  it  if  you  go 
on  squandering  your  chances  as  you  have  to 
day.  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  Are 
you  afraid  of  the  elderly  gentleman  with  the 
calculating  eye  ?  ' ' 

"  Not  exactly  afraid  of  him;  but  he's  a 
millionnaire,  and  Miss  Vennor  has  a  fortune 
in  her  own  right.  And  I ' ' 

"  Don't  finish  it.  I  understand  your  ob 
jection  ;  you  are  poor  and  proud — and 
that's  as  it  should  be  ;  but  tell  me — you  are 
in  love  with  Miss  Vennor,  aren't  you? 
When  did  it  begin?  " 

"  A  year  ago." 

"You  didn't  permit  yourself  to  fall  in 
love  with  her  until  you  knew  all  about  her 
circumstances  and  prospects,  of  course?" 

"  You  know  better  than  that.  It  was — it 
was  what  you'd  call  love  at  first  sight,"  he 
confessed,  rather  shamefacedly ;  and  then  he 
told  her  how  it  began. 

"  Very  good,"  said  Mrs.  Burton,  approv 
ingly.  '  '  Then  you  did  actually  manage  to 
fall  in  love  with  Gertrude  herself,  and  not 
with  her  money.  But  now,  because  you've 
found  out  she  has  money,  you  are  going  to 


8o  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

spoil  your  chance  of  happiness,  and  possibly 
hers.  Is  that  it?" 

Brockway  tried  to  explain.  "  It's  awful 
ly  good  of  you  to  try  to  put  it  in  that  light, 
but  no  one  would  ever  believe  that  I  wasn't 
mercenary — that  I  wasn't  a  shameless  cad  of 
a  fortune-hunter.  I  couldn't  stand  that, 
you  know." 

' '  No,  of  course  not ;  not  even  for  her 
sake.  Besides,  she  doubtless  looks  upon  you 
as  a  fortune-hunter,  and " 

"What?  Indeed  she  doesn't  anything 
of  the  kind." 

"Well,  then,  if  you  are  sure  she  doesn't 
misjudge  you,  what  do  you  care  for  the  opin 
ion  of  the  world  at  large  ? ' ' 

1 '  Much  ;  when  you  show  me  a  man  who 
doesn't  care  for  public  opinion,  I'll  show 
you  one  who  ought  to  be  in  jail." 

"  Fudge  !  Please  don't  try  to  hide  be 
hind  platitudes.  But  about  Gertrude,  and 
your  little  affair,  which  is  no  affair ;  what 
are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?  " 

' '  Nothing  ;  there  is  nothing  at  all  to  be 
done,"  Brockway  replied  with  gloomy  em 
phasis. 

"  I  suppose  nothing  would  ever  induce 
you  to  forgive  her  for  being  rich?  " 


A  CONFIDENCE   EN  ROUTE  8 1 

"  I  can  never  quite  forgive  myself  for  be 
ing  poor,  since  it's  going  to  cost  me  so  much. ' ' 

"You  are  too  equivocal  for  any  use. 
Answer  my  question/'  snapped  the  small  in 
quisitor. 

"  How  can  I  ?  "  Brockway  inquired,  with 
masculine  density.  "Forgiveness  implies 
an  injury,  and " 

"  Oh,  oh — how  stupid  you  can  be  when 
you  try  !  You  know  perfectly  well  what  I 
mean/' 

"I'm  not  sure  that  I  do,"  said  Brockway, 
whose  wit  was  easily  confounded  by  a  sharp 
tongue. 

"  Then  I'll  put  it  in  words  of  one  sylla 
ble.  Do  you  mean  to  ask  Miss  Vennor  to 
be  your  wife  ?  " 

"  I  couldn't,  and  keep  my  self-respect. " 

"  Not  if  you  knew  she  wanted  you  to?  " 
persisted  the  small  tormentor. 

"Oh,  I  say  —  that  couldn't  be,  you 
know,"  he  protested.  "I'm  nothing  more 
than  a  pleasant  acquaintance  to  her,  at  the 
very  most." 

"  But  if  you  knew  she  did  ?  " 

"  How  could  I  know  it  ?  " 

"  We  are  not  discussing  ways  and  means ; 
answer  the  question." 


82  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Thereat  the  man,  tempted  beyond  what 
he  could  bear,  abdicated  in  favor  of  the 
lover.  "  If  I  could  be  certain  of  that,  Mrs. 
Burton — if  I  could  be  sure  she  loves  me, 
nothing  on  earth  should  stand  in  the  way  of 
our  happiness.  Is  that  what  you  wanted  me 
to  say  ?  " 

The  little  lady  clapped  her  hands  enthusi 
astically.  "  I  thought  I  could  find  the  joint 
in  your  armor,  after  awhile.  Now  you  may 
go ;  I  want  to  be  by  myself  and  think.  Good 
night." 

Brockway  took  the  summary  dismissal 
good-naturedly,  and,  as  the  train  was  just 
then  slowing  into  a  station,  he  ran  out  to 
drop  off  and  catch  the  upcoming  hand-rail 
of  the  Tadmor. 


XI 

AN   ARRIVAL   IN  TRANSIT 

WHEN  Gertrude  bade  Brockway  good 
night,  she  changed  places  for  the  moment 
with  a  naughty  child  on  its  way  to  face  the 
consequences  of  a  misbehavior,  entering 
the  private  car  with  a  childish  consciousness 
of  wrong-doing  fighting  for  place  with  a 
rather  militant  determination  to  meet  reproof 
with  womanly  indifference.  Much  to  her 
relief,  she  found  her  father  alone,  and  there 
was  no  distinguishable  note  of  displeasure  in 
his  greeting. 

"  Well,  Gertrude,  did  you  enjoy  your  lit 
tle  diversion  ?  Sit  down  and  tell  me  about 
it.  How  does  the  cab  compare  with  the 
sitting-room  of  a  private  car  ?  " 

The  greeting  was  misleading,  but  she 
saw  fit  to  regard  it  as  merely  the  handshak 
ing  which  precedes  a  battle  royal. 

"  I  enjoyed  it  much,"  she  answered, 
quietly.  "  It  was  very  exciting  ;  and  very 
interesting,  too." 

83 


84  A  ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

"Ah;  I  presume  so.  And  your  escort 
took  good  care  of  you — made  you  quite 
comfortable,  I  suppose.'* 

"Yes." 

Mr.  Vennor  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and 
regarded  her  gravely  through  the  swirls  of 
blue  smoke  curling  upward  from  his  cigar. 
"  Didn't  it  strike  you  as  being  rather — ah 
— a  girlish  thing  for  you  to  do  ?  in  the 
night,  you  know,  and  with  a  comparative 
stranger  ? ' ' 

Gertrude  thought  the  battle  was  about  to 
open,  and  began  to  throw  up  hasty  fortifica 
tions.  "Mr.  Brockway  is  not  a  stranger; 
you  may  remember  that  we  became  quite 
well  acquainted " 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  President  interrupted  ; 
"  that  is  precisely  the  point  at  which  I 
wished  to  arrive — your  present  estimate  of 
this  young  man.  I  have  nothing  to  say 
about  your  little  diversion  on  the  engine. 
You  are  old  enough  to  settle  these  small 
questions  of  the  proprieties  for  yourself.  But 
touching  this  young  mechanic,  it  might  be 
as  well  for  us  to  understand  each  other. 
Have  you  fully  considered  the  probable  con 
sequences  of  your  most  singular  infatuation  ? ' ' 

It  was  a  ruthless  question,  and  the   hot 


AN  ARRIVAL  IN  TRANSIT  85 

blood  of  resentment  set  its  signals  flying  in 
Gertrude's  cheeks.  Up  to  that  evening,  she 
had  thought  of  the  passenger  agent  only  as 
an  agreeable  young  man  of  a  somewhat  un 
familiar  type,  of  whom  she  would  like  to 
know  more ;  but  Brockway's  moment  of 
abandonment  in  the  cab  of  the  926  had 
planted  a  seed  which  threatened  to  germi 
nate  quickly  in  the  warmth  of  the  present 
discussion. 

"I'm  not  quite  sure  that  I  understand 
you,"  she  said,  picking  and  choosing  among 
the  phrases  for  the  least  incendiary.  ' '  Would 
you  mind  telling  me  in  so  many  words,  just 
what  you  mean  ?  ' ' 

"  Not  in  the  least.  A  year  ago  you  met 
this  young  man  in  a  most  casual  way,  and 
— to  put  it  rather  brutally — fell  in  love  with 
him.  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea  that  he 
cares  anything  for  you  in  your  proper  per 
son,  or  that  he  would  have  thrust  himself 
upon  us  to-day  if  he  had  known  that  your 
private  fortune  hangs  upon  the  event  of  your 
marriage  under  certain  conditions  which  you 
evidently  purpose  to  ignore.  If,  after  the 
object-lesson  you  had  at  the  dinner-table  this 
evening,  you  still  prefer  this  young  fortune- 
hunter  to  your  cousin  Chester,  I  presume  we 


86  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

shall  all  have  to  submit ;  but  you  ought  at 
least  to  tell  us  what  we  are  to  expect." 

If  he  had  spared  the  epithets,  she  could 
have  laughed  at  the  baseless  fabric  of  suppo 
sition,  but  the  contemptuous  sentence  passed 
upon  Brockway  put  her  quickly  upon  his 
defence,  and,  incidentally,  did  more  to  fur 
ther  that  young  man's  cause  than  any  other 
happening  of  that  eventful  day. 

"I  suppose  you  have  a  right  to  say  and 
think  what  you  please  about  me, ' '  she  said, 
trying  vainly  to  be  dispassionate ;  "  but  you 
might  spare  Mr.  Brockway.  He  didn't  in 
vite  himself  to  dinner ;  and  it  was  I  who 
proposed  the  walk  on  the  platform  and  the 
ride  on  the  engine. ' ' 

"  Humph  !  you  are  nothing  if  not  loyal. 
Nevertheless,  I  wish  you  might  look  the  facts 
squarely  in  the  face." 

Gertrude  knew  there  were  no  facts,  of 
the  kind  he  meant,  but  his  persistence 
brought  forth  fruit  after  its  kind,  and  she 
stubbornly  resolved  to  neither  affirm  nor 
deny.  Wherefore  she  said,  a  little  stiffly : 

"I'm  quite  willing  to  listen  to  anything 
you  wish  to  say." 

< '  Then  I  should  like  to  ask  if  you  have 
counted  the  cost.  Assuming  that  this  young 


AN  ARRIVAL  IN  TRANSIT  87 

man's  intentions  are  unmercenary — and  I 
doubt  that  very  much — it  isn't  possible  that 
there  can  be  anything  in  common  between 
you.  The  social  world  in  which  you  move, 
and  that  to  which  he  belongs,  are  as  widely 
separated  as  the  poles.  I  do  not  say  yours  is 
the  higher  plane,  or  his  the  lower — though  I 
may  have  my  own  opinion  as  to  that — but  I 
do  say  they  are  vastly  different;  and  the 
woman  who  knowingly  marries  put  of  her 
class  has  much  to  answer  for.  Admitting 
that  you  will  do  no  worse  than  this,  how 
can  you  hope  to  find  anything  congenial  in 
a  man  who  has  absolutely  nothing  to  say  for 
himself  at  an  ordinary  family  dinner-table?" 

"  I'm  not  at  all  sure  that  Mr.  Brockway 
hadn't  anything  to  say  for  himself,  though 
he  couldn't  be  expected  to  know  or  care 
much  about  the  things  we  talked  of.  And 
it  occurred  to  me  at  the  time  that  it  wasn't 
quite  kind  in  us  to  talk  intellectual  shop 
from  the  soup  to  the  dessert,  as  we  did." 

The  President  smiled,  but  the  cold  eyes 
belied  the  outward  manifestation  of  kindli 
ness.  "  You  may  thank  me  for  that,  if  you 
choose,"  he  went  on,  in  the  same  calm  ar 
gumentative  tone.  "  I  wanted  to  point  a 
moral,  and  if  I  didn't  succeed,  it  wasn't  the 


88  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

fault  of  the  subject.  But  that  is  only  the  so 
cial  side ;  a  question  of  taste.  Unfortunately, 
there  is  a  more  serious  matter  to  be  consid 
ered.  You  know  the  terms  of  your  grand- 
uncle's  will;  that  your  Cousin  Fleetwell's 
half  of  the  estate  became  his  unconditionally 
on  his  coming  of  age,  and  that  your  portion 
is  only  a  trust  until  your  marriage  with  your 
cousin  ?  ' ' 

"I  ought  to  know;  it's  been  talked  of 
enough. ' ' 

"  And  you  know  that  if  the  marriage  fail 
by  your  act,  you  will  lose  this  legacy?  " 

"Yes." 

"  And  that  it  will  go  to  certain  charitable 
institutions,  and  so  be  lost,  not  only  to  you, 
but  to  the  family  ? ' ' 

"  I  know  all  about  it." 

"  You  know  it,  and  yet  you  would  delib 
erately  throw  yourself  away  on  a  fortune-hunt 
ing  mechanic — a  man  whom  you  have  known 
only  since  yesterday  ?  It's  incredible  !  " 

"  It  is  you  who  have  said  it — not  I,"  she 
retorted  ;  "  but  I'm  not  willing  to  admit 
that  it  would  be  all  loss  and  no  gain.  There 
would  at  least  be  a  brand-new  set  of  sensa 
tions,  and  I'm  very  sure  they  wouldn't  all 
be  painful." 


AN  ARRIVAL  IN  TRANSIT  89 

It  was  rebellion,  pure  and  simple,  and  for 
once  in  his  life  Francis  Vennor  gave  place  to 
wrath — plebeian  wrath,  vociferous  and  un 
dignified. 

"  Shame  on  you  !  "  he  cried  ;  ".you  are 
a  disgrace  to  the  name — it's  the  blood  of 
that  cursed  socialist  on  your  mother's  side. 
Sit  still  and  listen  to  me — "  Gertrude, 
knowing  her  own  temper,  was  about  to  run 
away — "  If  you  marry  that  infernal  upstart, 
you'll  do  it  at  your  own  expense,  do  you 
hear?  You  sha'n't  finger  a  penny  of  my 
money  as  long  as  I  can  keep  you  out  of  it. 
Do  you  understand  ?  ' ' 

"  I  should  be  very  dull  if  I  didn't  under 
stand,"  she  replied,  preparing  to  make  good 
her  retreat.  "If  you  are  quite  through, 
perhaps  you  will  let  me  say  that  you  are  tilt 
ing  at  a  windmill  of  your  own  building.  So 
far  as  I  know,  Mr.  Brockway  hasn't  the 
slightest  intention  of  asking  me  to  marry 
him;  and  until  you  took  the  trouble  to 
demonstrate  the  possibility,  I  don't  think  it 
ever  occurred  to  me.  But  after  what  you've 
said,  I  don't  think  I  can  ever  consent  to  be 
married  to  Cousin  Chester — it  would  be  too 
mercenary,  you  know ;  ' '  and  with  this  part 
ing  shot  she  vanished. 


90  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

In  the  privacy  of  her  own  stateroom  she 
sat  at  the  window  to  think  it  all  out.  It  was 
all  very  undutiful,  doubtless,  and  she  was 
sorry  for  her  part  in  the  quarrel  almost  be 
fore  the  words  were  cold.  She  could 
scarcely  forgive  herself  for  having  allowed 
her  father  to  carry  his  assumption  to  such 
lengths,  but  the  temptation  had  proved  irre 
sistible.  It  was  such  a  delicious  little  farce, 
and  if  it  might  only  have  stopped  short  of 
the  angry  conclusion — but  it  had  not,  and 
therein  lay  the  sting  of  it.  Whereupon, 
feeling  the  sting  afresh,  she  set  her  face  flint- 
wise  against  the  prearranged  marriage. 

"  I  sha'n't  do  it,"  she  said  aloud,  pressing 
her  hot  cheek  against  the  cool  glass  of  the 
window.  "  I  don't  love  Chester,  and  I 
never  shall — not  in  the  way  I  should.  And 
if  I  marry  him,  I  shall  be  just  what  papa 
called  Mr.  Brockway — only  he  isn't  that,  or 
anything  of  the  kind.  Poor  Mr.  Brockway! 
If  he  knew  what  we  have  been  talking 
about ' ' 

From  that  point  reflection  went  adrift  in 
pleasanter  channels.  How  good-natured  and 
forgiving  Mr.  Brockway  had  been !  He 
must  have  known  that  he  was  purposely  ig 
nored  at  the  dinner-table,  where  he  was  an 


AN  ARRIVAL  IN   TRANSIT  91 

invited  guest,  and  yet  he  had  not  resented 
it ;  and  what  better  proof  of  gentle  breeding 
than  this  could  he  have  given  ?  Then,  in 
that  crucial  moment  of  danger,  how  surely 
his  presence  of  mind  and  trained  energies 
had  forestalled  the  catastrophe.  That  was 
grand — heroic.  It  was  well  worth  its  cost 
in  terror  to  look  on  and  see  him  strive  with 
and  conquer  the  great  straining  monster  of 
iron  and  steel.  After  that,  one  couldn't  well 
listen  calmly  to  such  things  as  her  father  had 
said  of  him. 

And,  admitting  the  truth  of  what  had 
been  said  about  his  intellectual  shortcomings, 
was  a  certain  glib  familiarity  with  the  mod 
ern  catch-words  of  book-talk  and  art  criti 
cism  a  fair  test  of  intellectuality?  Gertrude^ 
with  her  cheek  still  touching  the  cool  win 
dow-pane,  thought  not.  One  might  read 
the  reviews  and  talk  superficially  of  more 
books  than  the  most  painstaking  student 
could  ever  know,  even  by  sight.  In  like 
manner,  one  might  walk  through  the  picture 
galleries  and  come  away  freighted  with  great 
names  wherewith  to  awe  the  un travelled 
lover  of  art.  It  was  quite  evident  that  Mr. 
Brockway  had  done  neither  of  these  things, 
and  yet  he  was  thoughtful  and  keenly  ob- 


92  A   ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

servant ;  and  if  he  were  ignorant  of  art,  he 
knew  and  understood  nature,  which  is  the 
mother  of  all  art. 

From  reinstating  the  passenger  agent  in 
his  rights  and  privileges  as  a  man,  she  came 
presently  upon  the  little  incident  in  the  cab 
of  the  926.  How  much  or  how  little  did  he 
mean  when  he  said  he  was  happy  to  his  fin 
ger-tips?  On  the  lips  of  the  men  of  her 
world,  such  sayings  went  for  naught  ;  they 
were  but  the  tennis-balls  of  persiflage,  served 
deftly,  and  with  the  intent  that  they  should 
rebound  harmless.  But  she  felt  sure  that 
such  a  definition  went  wide  of  Mr.  Brock- 
way's  meaning ;  of  compliments  as  such,  he 
seemed  to  know  less  than  nothing.  And 
then  he  had  said  that  whatever  came  be 
tween  them — no,  that  was  not  it — whatever 
happened  to  either  of  them.  .  .  .  Ah, 
well,  many  things  might  happen — would 
doubtless  happen ;  but  she  would  not  forget, 
either. 

The  familiar  sighing  of  the  air-brake  be 
gan  again,  and  the  low  thunder  of  the  pa 
tient  wheels  became  the  diapason  beneath  the 
shrill  song  of  the  brake-shoes.  Then  the 
red  eye  of  a  switch-lamp  glanced  in  at  Ger 
trude's  window,  and  the  train  swung  slowly 


AN  ARRIVAL  IN   TRANSIT  93 

up  to  the  platform  at  another  prairie  hamlet. 
Just  before  it  stopped,  she  caught  a  swift 
glimpse  of  a  man  standing  with  outstretched 
arms,  as  if  in  mute  appeal.  It  was  Brock- 
way.  He  was  merely  standing  in  readiness 
to  grasp  the  hand-rail  of  the  Tadmor  when 
it  should  reach  him;  but  Gertrude  knew 
it  not,  and  if  she  had,  it  would  have  made 
no  difference.  It  was  the  one  fortuitous 
touch  needed  to  open  that  inner  chamber  of 
her  heart,  closed,  hitherto,  even  to  her  own 
consciousness.  And  when  the  door  was 
opened  she  looked  within  and  saw  what  no 
woman  sees  but  once  in  her  life,  and  having 
once  seen,  will  die  unwed  in  very  truth  if 
any  man  but  one  call  her  wife. 

Once  more  the  drumming  wheels  began 
the  overture  ;  the  lighted  bay-window  of  the 
station  slipped  backward  into  the  night,  and 
the  bloodshot  eye  of  another  switch-lamp 
peered  in  at  the  window  and  was  gone  ;  but 
Gertrude  neither  saw  nor  heard.  The  things 
of  time  and  place  were  around  and  about 
her,  but  not  within.  A  new  song  was  in 
her  heart,  its  words  inarticulate  as  yet,  but 
its  harmonies  singing  with  the  music  of  the 
spheres.  A  little  later,  when  the  "Flying 
Kestrel  M  was  again  in  mid-flitting,  and  the 


94  A   ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

separate  noises  of  the  train  had  sunk  into  the 
soothing  under-roar,  she  crept  into  her 
berth  wet-eyed  and  thankful,  and  presently 
went  to  sleep  too  happy  to  harbor  anxious 
thought  for  the  morrow  of  uncertainties. 


XII 

THE   ANCIENTS    AND    INVALIDS 

BROCKWAY  was  up  betimes  the  following 
morning,  though  not  of  his  own  free  will. 
Two  hours  before  the  ' '  Flying  Kestrel ' ' 
was  due  in  Denver,  the  porter  of  the  Tadmor 
awakened  him  at  the  command  of  the  irasci 
ble  gentleman  with  the  hock-bottle  shoulders 
and  diaphanous  nose.  While  the  passenger 
agent  was  sluicing  his  face  in  the  wash-room 
some  one  prodded  him  from  behind,  and  a 
thin,  high-pitched  voice  wedged  itself  into 
the  thunderous  silence. 

"  Mr.  ah — Brockway ;  I  understand  that 
you  are  purposing  to  take  the  party  to  ah — 
Feather  Plume  or  ah — Silver  Feather,  or  some 
such  place  to-day,  and  I  ah — protest !  I  have 
no  desire  to  leave  Denver  until  my  ticket  is 
made  to  conform  to  my  stipulations,  sir. ' ' 

Brockway  had  soap  in  his  eyes,  and  the 
porter  had  carefully  hidden  the  towels ;  for 
which  cause  his  reply  was  brief  and  to  the 
point. 

95 


96  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  Please  wait  till  I  get  washed  and  dressed 
before  you  begin  on  me,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  Wait  ?  Do  you  say  ah — wait  ?  I  have 
been  doing  nothing  but  wait,  sir,  ever  since 
my  ah — stipulations  were  ignored.  It's  an 
outrage,  sir,  I " 

Brock  way  had  found  a  towel  and  was  using 
it  vigorously  as  a  counter-irritant. 

"  For  Heaven's  sake,  go  away  and  let  me 
alone  until  I  can  get  my  clothes  on  !  "  he 
exclaimed.  "  I  promised  you  yesterday  you 
should  have  the  thirty  days  that  you  don't 
need." 

The  aggrieved  one  had  his  ticket  out,  but 
he  put  it  away  again  in  tremulous  indigna 
tion.  "  Go  away?  Did  I  ah — understand 

you  to  tell  me  to  go  away,  sir?  I  ah-h-h ' ' 

but  words  failed  him,  and  he  shuffled  out  of 
the  wash-room,  cannoning  against  the  little 
gentleman  in  the  grass-cloth  duster  and  velvet 
skull-cap  in  the  angle  of  the  vestibule. 

"  Good -morning,  Mr.  Brockway,"  said 
the  comforter,  cheerily.  "  Been  having  a  tilt 
with  Mr.  Ticket-limits  to  begin  the  day  with?" 

"  Oh,  as  a  matter  of  course,"  Brockway  re 
plied,  flinging  the  damp  towel  into  a  corner, 
and  brushing  his  hair  as  one  who  transmutes 
wrath  into  vigorous  action. 


THE  ANCIENTS  AND  INVALJDS          97 

"  Find  him  a  bit  trying,  don't  you  ?  What 
particular  form  does  his  mania  take  this  morn 
ing?" 

"  It's  the  same  old  thing.  I  promised 
him,  yesterday,  I'd  get  the  extension  on  his 
ticket,  and  now  he  says  he  won't  leave  Den 
ver  till  it's  done.  He  '  ah-protests'  that  I 
sha'n't  go  to  Silver  Plume  with  the  party; 
wants  me  to  stay  in  Denver  and  put  in  the 
day  telegraphing. " 

"  Of  course,  you'll  do  it ;  you  do  any 
thing  anybody  asks  you  to." 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  I'll  have  to — to  keep  the 
peace.  And  if  I  don't  go  and  '  personally 
conduct'  the  others,  there'll  be  the  biggest 
kind  of  a  row.  Isn't  it  enough  to  wear  the 
patience  of  a  good-natured  angel  to  fraz 
zles?" 

"  It  is,  just  that.     Have  a  cigar?  " 

"No,  thank  you.  I  don't  smoke  before 
breakfast." 

"  Neither  do  I,  normally  ;  but  like  most 
other  people,  I  leave  all  my  good  habits  at 
home  when  I  travel.  But  about  Jordan  and 
the  thirty-odd  ;  how  are  you  going  to  dodge 
the  row  ?  ' ' 

"  The  best  way  I  can.  There  is  a  good 
friend  of  mine  on  the  train — Mr.  John  Bur- 


98  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ton,  the  general  agent  of  the  C.  &  U.,  in 
Salt  Lake — and  perhaps  I  can  get  him  to  go 
up  the  canyon  for  me." 

"Think  he  will  do  it?" 

"I  guess  so;  to  oblige  me.  He'd  lose 
only  a  day ;  and  he'd  make  thirty-odd 
friends  for  the  C.  &  U.,  don't  you  see." 

"  I  must  confess  that  I  don't  see,  from  a 
purely  business  point  of  view,"  was  the  re 
joinder.  "  We  are  all  ticketed  out  and  back, 
and  we  can' t  change  our  route  if  we  want  to. " 

Brockway  laughed.  "  The  business  of 
passenger  soliciting  is  far-reaching.  Some 
of  you — perhaps  most  of  you — will  go  again 
next  year ;  and  if  the  general  agent  of  the 
C.  &  U.  is  particularly  kind  and  obliging, 
you  may  remember  his  line. ' ' 

"Dear  me — why,  of  course!  You  say 
your  friend  is  on  the  train  ?  ' ' 

"Yes." 

"Very  well;  you  go  and  see  him,  and 
I'll  help  you  out  by  breaking  the  news  to  the 
thirty-odd." 

Brockway  struggled  into  his  coat  and 
shook  hands  with  the  friendly  one.  "  Mr. 
Somers,  you're  my  good  angel.  You've  un 
dertaken  a  thankless  task,  though." 

The  womanish  face  under  the  band  of  the 


THE   ANCIENTS  AND  INVALIDS          99 

skull-cap  broke  into  a  smile  which  was  not 
altogether  angelic.  "  I  shall  get  my  pay  as 
I  go  along  ;  our  friend  with  the  bad  case  of 
ticket  dementia  will  be  carrying  the  entire 
responsibility  for  your  absence  before  I  get 
through." 

"  Good  !  pile  it  on  thick,"  said  Brockway, 
chuckling.  "  Make  'em  understand  that  I'd 
give  all  my  old  shoes  to  go — that  I'm  so 
angry  with  Jordan  for  spoiling  my  day's 
pleasure  that  I  can't  see  straight." 

"I'll  do  it,"  the  little  man  agreed.  "Take 
a  cigar  to  smoke  after  breakfast  " — and  the 
gray  duster  and  velvet  skull-cap  disappeared 
forthwith  around  the  angle  in  the  vestibule. 

Not  until  he  was  ready  to  seek  Burton 
did  the  passenger  agent  recollect  that  the 
Naught-fifty  was  between  the  Tadmor  and 
the  Ariadne,  and  that  it  would  be  the  part 
of  prudence  to  go  around  rather  than  through 
the  President's  car.  When  he  did  remember 
it  he  stepped  out  into  the  vestibule  of  the 
Tadmor  to  get  a  breath  of  fresh  air  while  he 
waited  for  the  train  to  come  to  a  station. 
Mrs.  Dunham  was  on  the  Naught-fifty's  rear 
platform,  and  she  nodded,  smiled,  and  beck 
oned  him  to  come  across. 

"I'm  glad  to  know  that  somebody  else 


ioo  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

besides  a  curious  old  woman  cares  enough 
for  this  grand  scenery  to  get  up  early  in  the 
morning,"  she  said,  pleasantly. 

"  You  mustn't  make  me  ashamed/'  Brock- 
way  rejoined.  "I'm  afraid  I  should  have 
been  sound  asleep  this  minute  if  I  hadn't 
been  routed  out  by  one  of  my  people. ' ' 

Mrs.  Dunham  smiled.  "Gertrude  was 
telling  me  about  some  of  your  troubles.  Do 
they  get  you  up  early  in  the  morning  to  ask 
you  foolish  questions  ?  ' ' 

"  They  do,  indeed ' ' — and  Brock  way,  glad 
enough  to  find  a  sympathetic  listener,  told 
the  story  of  the  pertinacious  human  gadfly 
masquerading  under  the  name  of  Jordan. 

"  Dear,  dear  !  How  unreasonable  !  Will 
you  have  to  give  up  the  Silver  Plume  trip 
and  stay  in  Denver  with  him?  " 

"  I  suppose  so.  I'm  going  forward  pres 
ently  to  try  to  get  Mr.  Burton  and  his  wife 
to  take  my  place  with  the  party  for  the 
day." 

"  Not  Mr.  John  Burton,  of  the  Colorado 
&  Utah?" 

"  Yes ;  do  you  know  him  ?  " 

"  Only  through  Gertrude ;  she  met  them 
when  she  was  out  here  last  year,  and  she 
likes  Mrs.  Burton  very  much  indeed." 


THE  ANCIENTS  AND'  INVALIDS  ;",ipx.. 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Brockway,  with 
great  naivete ;  "  they  are  very  good  friends 
of  mine." 

In  the  pause  that  succeeded  he  was  re 
minded  that  his  way  and  Gertrude's  would 
shortly  diverge  again,  and  in  the  face  of  that 
thought  he  could  not  well  help  asking  ques 
tions. 

6 '  I  suppose  you  are  going  straight  on  to 
Utah,"  he  said,  not  daring  to  hope  for  a 
negative  reply. 

"Not  to-day.  I  believe  it  is  Mr.  Veiv 
nor's  plan  to  go  on  to-morrow  morning. M 

When  he  realized  what  this  meant  for  him, 
Brockway  forgave  his  evil  genius  in  the  Tad- 
mor.  Then  he  gasped  to  think  how  near  he 
had  come  to  missing  his  last  chance  of  seeing 
Gertrude.  But  he  must  know  more  of  the 
movements  of  the  President's  party. 

"  Will  you  go  to  a  hotel  ?  M  he  inquired. 

"  I  think  not.  I  heard  Mr.  Vennor  order 
dinner  in  the  car,  so  I  presume  we  shall  make 
it  our  headquarters  during  the  day. ' ' 

Brockway  reflected  that  the  private  car 
would  doubtless  be  side-tracked  on  the  spur 
near  the  telegraph  office  in  the  Union  Depot, 
and  wrote  it  down  that  prearrangement  itself 
could  do  no  more.  When  the  train  drew 


TO 2  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

up  at  Bo  valley  a  little  later,  he  excused  him 
self  and  ran  quickly  forward  to  board  the 
Ariadne.  Come  what  might,  Burton  must 
be  over-persuaded ;  the  thirty-odd  must  be 
given  no  chance  to  defeat  the  Heaven -born 
opportunity  made  possible  by  the  pertinacity 
of  the  gadfly. 

So  marched  the  intention,  but  the  fates 
willed  delay.  Bovalley  is  but  a  flag-station, 
and  the  passenger  agent  had  barely  time  to 
swing  up  to  the  rear  platform  of  the  regular 
sleeper  when  the  train  moved  on.  Then  he 
found  that  he  had  circumvented  one  obstacle 
only  to  be  hampered  by  another.  The  rear 
door  of  the  Ariadne  was  locked,  and  the 
electric  bell  was  out  of  repair.  Wherefore 
it  was  forty  minutes  later,  and  Denver  was 
in  sight,  when  the  rear  brakeman  opened  the 
door  and  admitted  him, 


XIII 

BETWEEN    STATIONS 

WHEN  Mrs.  Dunham  returned  to  the  cen 
tral  compartment  of  the  Naught-fifty,  the 
waiter  was  laying  the  table  for  breakfast,  and 
the  President  was  looking  on  with  the  stead 
fast  gaze  which  disconcerts. 

"  Good-morning,  Cousin  Jeannette.  Up 
early  to  see  the  scenery,  are  you  ?  ' '  The 
genial  greeting  had  no  hint  in  it  of  inward 
disquietude,  past  or  present. 

"Yes,  and  I  wish  I  had  been  earlier.  I 
have  been  out  on  the  platform  watching  the 
mountains  grow." 

"  Grand,  isn't  it?  You  might  have  had 
a  better  view  if  our  car  had  been  left  in  its 
proper  place  in  the  rear ;  but  our  friend  the 
passenger  agent  took  good  care  to  secure  that 
for  his  own  party. ' ' 

Mrs.  Dunham  was  inclined  to  be  chari 
table.  "  I  fancy  he  couldn't  help  it.  From 
103 


104  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

what  he  tells  me,  his  people  must  be  very 
exacting." 

"  Have  you  seen  him  this  morning?" 
the  President  inquired,  with  some  small  show 
of  curiosity. 

"Yes;  out  on  the  platform.  He  has 
been  telling  me  some  of  his  exasperating  ex 
periences.  ' ' 

The  President  smiled  indulgently.  "I 
suspect  our  young  friend  has  fallen  into  a 
habit  of  magnifying  his  difficulties,"  he  said. 
"It's  very  easy  to  do,  you  know,  when 
one's  business  makes  a  fine  art  of  exaggera 
tion." 

"Why,  he  doesn't  impress  me  that  way, 
at  all,"  said  the  good  lady,  who  knew  noth 
ing  of  her  cousin's  very  excellent  reasons  for 
disliking  Brockway.  "He  seems  to  be  a 
very  pleasant  young  man,  and  quite  intelli- 
gent." 

Mr.  Vennor  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  I 
don't  question  his  intelligence — though  it 
wasn't  very  remarkable  at  the  dinner-table 
last  night.  Did  you  happen  to  find  out 
whether  he  is  going  all  the  way  across  with 
his  party  ?  ' ' 

"  He  didn't  say.  His  people  are  going 
up  to  Silver  Plume  to-day,  but  he  can't  go 


BETWEEN  STATIONS  105 

with  them.  He  has  to  stay  in  Denver  with 
one  of  the  exacting  ones  whose  ticket  is  out 
of  repair." 

^  "  Ha  !  that's  a  very  sharp  little  trick," 
said  the  President  ;  but  inasmuch  as  he 
did  not  elucidate,  the  chaperon  misunder 
stood. 

"  To  get  him  into  trouble  with  the  others  ? 
I  fancy  that  is  only  incidental.  Mr.  Brock- 
way  is  going  to  try  to  get  Mr.  Burton — our 
Mr.  Burton,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  you  know — 
who  is  on  the  train,  to  take  charge  of  the 
party  on  the  Silver  Plume  trip." 

Mr.  Vennor  said,  "Oh,"  and  then  the 
young  people  began  to  appear,  and  the 
waiter  announced  breakfast.  During  the 
meal  the  President  was  too  deeply  engrossed 
in  the  working  out  of  a  small  counterplot  to 
hear  or  heed  much  of  the  desultory  table- 
talk.  It  was  quite  evident  that  the  passenger 
agent  had  learned  of  the  proposed  stop-over 
in  Denver,  and  was  preparing  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  it.  His  confidence  with  Mrs. 
Dunham  was  only  a  roundabout  way  of 
notifying  Gertrude. 

Mr.  Vennor  considered  many  little  schemes 
of  the  frustrating  sort,  a,nd  finally  choosing 
one  which  seemed  to  meet  all  the  require- 


106  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ments,  put  it  in  train  immediately  after 
breakfast. 

* '  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  your 
self  to-day  ?  "  he  asked  of  Fleetwell,  when 
they  had  drawn  apart  and  lighted  their 
cigars. 

"  Don't  know,"  replied  the  collegian, 
between  whiffs  ;  "  whatever  the  others  want 
to  do." 

"  I  was  just  thinking,"  the  President  con 
tinued,  carelessly.  "The  Beaswicke  girls 
want  to  call  on  some  friends  of  theirs,  and 
that  eliminates  them.  I  expect  to  be  busy 
all  day  ;  and  Cousin  Jeanne tte  says  she 
doesn't  care  to  go  about.  Suppose  you  and 
Gertrude  take  a  run  up  into  the  mountains 
on  one  of  the  narrow-gauges.  It'll  fill  in 
the  day,  and  you  can  be  back  in  time  for 
dinner  this  evening." 

"  I  don't  mind,  if  Gertrude  wants  to  go  ; 
but  I  don't  believe  she  does,"  said  Fleet- 
well,  with  so  little  enthusiasm  that  the  Pres 
ident  looked  at  him  sharply. 

"Think  not?" 

"  I'm  almost  sure  she  doesn't,"  the  col 
legian  replied,  placidly. 

Mr.  Francis  Vennor  was  a  conservative 
man,  slow  to  admit  even  the  contradiction 


BETWEEN  STATIONS  107 

• 

of  facts.  While  waiting  for  Gertrude  the 
previous  evening,  he  had  convinced  himself 
that  his  daughter  was  about  to  sacrifice  her 
self.  To  an  impartial  onlooker — and  he 
prided  himself  on  being  no  less — the  evi 
dence  was  logically  conclusive ;  and,  not 
withstanding  Gertrude's  tardy  denial,  he 
still  believed  that  his  major  premise  was  cor 
rect,  or,  at  most,  only  errant  in  time. 

Having  thus  set  his  judgment  a  bad  ex 
ample,  it  easily  broke  bounds  again  in  the 
same  direction.  How  should  Fleetwell 
know  that  Gertrude  would  not  care  to  spend 
the  day  in  his  company  ?  Probably  because 
they  had  found  time  before  breakfast  for 
another  of  their  foolish  disagreements.  In 
that  case,  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
separate  them  for  the  day ;  and  a  plan  by 
which  this  might  be  accomplished,  and  the 
passenger  agent  checkmated  at  the  same 
time,  suggested  itself  at  the  instant. 

"We'll  let  it  goat  that,  then,"  he  said, 
answering  Fleetwell' s  assumption.  "  You 
can  manage  to  wear  out  the  day  in  town. 
Perhaps  the  Beaswicke  girls  will  let  you  go 
calling  with  them." 

"Think  so?  I'll  go  and  ask  them," 
Fleetwell  said,  with  more  animation  than  he 


lo8  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

had  yet  exhibited ;  and  he  threw  away  his 
cigar  and  went  about  it. 

The  President  rose  and  crossed  over  to 
Mrs.  Dunham's  chair. 

"  Where  is  Gertrude  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  She  complained  of  a  headache  and  went 
to  her  room.  Shall  I  call  her  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  ;  but  if  you  haven't  already  done 
so,  I  wish  you  wouldn't  mention  what  Brock- 
way  told  you,  this  morning  —  about  his 
spending  the  day  in  Denver,  I  mean." 

"Certainly  not,  if  you  wish  it,"  the 
chaperon  agreed ;  but  the  expression  of  her 
face  was  so  plainly  interrogative  that  the 
President  was  constrained  to  go  on. 

"There  is  nothing  to  be  anxious  about 
yet,"  he  hastened  to  say;  "but  you  know 
the  old  adage  about  the  ounce  of  prevention. 
Gertrude  is  very  self-willed,  and  they  were 
together  rather  more  than  I  could  wish,  last 
summer. ' ' 

"  I  think  you  are  altogether  mistaken, 
Cousin  Francis,"  said  the  good  lady,  in 
whom  there  was  no  drop  of  match-making 
blood.  "She  has  talked  very  freely  with 
me  about  him,  and  a  young  girl  doesn't  do 
that  if  there  is  any  sentiment  in  the  air." 

"  I  hope  you  are  right.     But  it  will  do  no 


BETWEEN  STATIONS  109 

harm  to  give  ourselves  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt.  I  fancy  Chester  didn't  quite  approve 
of  the  little  diversion  las*  evening — on  the 
engine,  you  know.'1 

"Pooh!  I  don't  believe  he  gave  it  a 
second  thought." 

' '  Possibly  not ;  but  he  had  a  very  good 
right  to  object.  It  was  a  reckless  bit  of  im 
propriety." 

' '  You  sat  up  for  Gertrude  last  night ; 
did  you  say  as  much  to  her  ?  ' '  the  chaperon 
asked,  shrewdly. 

"Not  quite  that,"  said  the  President, 
who  was  unwilling  to  go  into  particulars. 

"Because,  if  you  did,  it  was  injudicious, 
that's  all.  Gertrude  is  your  own  daughter, 
and  she  is  enough  like  you  to  resent  any 
thing  of  that  kind  in  a  way  to  make  you  re 
gretful.  That  accounts  for  the  headache 
this  morning." 

Gertrude's  father  smiled  rather  grimly. 
"I  shall  presently  find  a  remedy  for  the 
headache,  and  you'll  see  that  it  will  work 
like  a  charm.  But  its  efficacy  will  depend 
upon  your  discretion.  Not  a  word  about 
the  passenger  agent,  if  you  please." 

Mrs.  Dunham  promised,  rather  reluctantly, 
and  Mr.  Vennor  put  on  his  hat  and  left  the 


no  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

compartment.  He  had  business  in  the 
Ariadne ;  and  a  little  later,  Mrs.  Burton, 
who  was  buttoning  her  shoe,  looked  up  to 
find  the  calculating  eyes  of  the  President 
making  a  calm  and  leisurely  valuation  of  her. 


XIV 

WITH    DENVER   IN    SIGHT 

THERE  was  the  usual  early  morning  con. 
fusion  in  the  aisle  of  the  Ariadne  when 
Brockway  picked  his  way  forward  to  section 
three  over  a  litter  of  opened  hand-bags, 
lately  polished  shoes,  and  unshod  feet.  He 
found  the  Burton  section  empty,  with  the 
porter  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  his 
morning's  work  of  scene-shifting. 

"  Yes,  sah ;  de  gemman's  in  de  wash 
room,  an'  de  lady " 

"  Is  right  here,"  said  a  voice  at  Brock- 
way's  elbow.  "Good-morning,  Mr.  Fred 
erick;  how  do  you  find  yourself — or  aren't 
you  lost?  " 

The  forty -minute  lock-out  had  left  scant 
time  for  preliminaries,  and  Brockway  left  off 
the  preamble. 

"I'm  not  lost,  but  I'm  going  to  be  if, 
you  and  John  don't  help  me  out.     Will  you 
doit?" 


H2  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"Sight  unseen."  The  little  lady  was 
eying  her  shoes  wistfully  and  hoping  that 
Brock  way  would  be  brief. 

"  I  thought  I  could  count  on  you.  What 
is  your  programme  for  to-day?  " 

"For  John,  business,  I  suppose;  for  my 
self,  a  carriage,  a  handy  card-case,  and  any 
number  of  <  how  do  you  dos  '  and  '  good 
byes/  Why?" 

"  I  want  you  both  to  give  me  the  day,  out 
and  out.  Listen,  and  don't  say  no  till  you've 
heard  me  through." 

"  Go  on,  but  don't  let  it  lap  over  into 
Denver  ;  we're  'most  there." 

Brockway  stated  his  case  briefly.  "  It's 
probably  the  last  chance  I'll  ever  have  to  see 
her,"  he  concluded. 

"Why  should  you  want  to  see  her  when 
there  is  nothing  to  be  done,  as  you  say  ?  ' ' 

"  I  don't  know  that — but  I  do,  and  you 
must  help  me.  Will  you  ?  " 

"Help  you  carry  on  a  brazen  flirtation 
with  that  poor,  innocent  girl  ?  Never  !  But 
if  John  says  he'll  go,  I  suppose  I  can't  help 
myself  " — resignedly. 

"Thank  you;  I  knew  you  wouldn't  be 
cruel.  And  if  John  should  happen  to  balk 
a  little " 


WITH  DENVER  IN  SIGHT  113 

"Why,  1*11  talk  him  over,  of  course;  is 
that  what  you  want  ?  ' ' 

"  That's  it  exactly.  Thank  you  some 
more." 

"  Don't  mention  it.     Is  that  all  ?  " 

"  Y — yes,  all  but  one  little  trifle  of  detail. 
Have  you  told  John  about  my — my  lunacy? ' ' 

"No." 

"  Then  don't;  it's  bad  enough  to  be  an 
idiot  and  know  it  myself." 

"  I  sha'n't — perhaps.     Is  that  all  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  believe  so." 

"  Then  for  mercy's  sake  do  go  and  talk 
to  John,  and  let  me  put  on  my  shoes,"  said 
Mrs.  Burton,  impatiently.  "  I  can't  go  to 
breakfast  in  my  slippers." 

Brockway  vanished  obediently,  and  pres 
ently  found  Burton  struggling  into  his  outer 
garments  in  the  smoking-room. 

"Hello,  Fred;  how  are  the  invalids  this 
morning  ?  Get  you  out  bright  and  early  ?  ' ' 

"  One  of  them  did — that  old  fellow  with 
the  bad  case  of  ticket -limits.  I'm  in  trouble 
up  to  my  neck,  and  you've  got  to  help  me 
out." 

"  Say  the  word  and  I'll  do  it  if  it  costs 
me  something,"  said  Burton,  who  was  noth 
ing  if  not  helpful  to  his  friends. 


114  A  ROMANCE   IN   TRANSIT 

"  It's  going  to  cost  you  something — a 
whole  day,  in  fact.  I  promised  to  '  person 
ally  conduct '  the  crowd  up  to  Silver  Plume 
to-day,  and  the  arrangements  are  all  made. 
Now  this  old  fellow  says  he  isn't  going;  says 
I've  got  to  stay  in  Denver  with  him  and 
telegraph  another  thirty  days  to  his  ticket,  or 
the  heavens  will  fall.  I'm  going  to  do  it, 
and  I  want  you  to  take  my  place  with  the 
party." 

"  Same  old  maker  of  hard-and-fast  prom 
ises,  aren't  you,  Fred,"  said  the  general 
agent,  smiling.  "  I  suppose  I  can  do  it,  if 
you  can  square  it  with  Emily." 

"  I've  done  that  already;  she's  awfully 
good  about  it — says  she'll  go  along  and  help 
you  out.  What's  this  place  ?  Overton  ? 
By  Jove  !  I'll  have  to  be  getting  back  to  my 
car  ;  we're  only  fifteen  miles  out.  Thank 
you  much,  old  man — see  you  later" — and. 
the  passenger  agent  pushed  through  the 
group  in  the  wash-room  and  dropped  off  to 
once  more  make  the  circuit  of  car  Naught- 
fifty. 


XV 

YARD-LIMITS 

IT  was  while  Brockway  was  making  his 
second  circuit  of  the  private  car  that  Mrs. 
Burton  looked  up  and  encountered  the  cal 
culating  gaze  of  the  President. 

"  Ah — good-morning,  Mrs.  Burton  ;  you 
remember  me,  I  see.  On  your  way  back  to 
Utah,  are  you  ?  ' ' 

"Yes — "  the  "sir"  was  on  the  tip  of 
her  tongue,  but  she  managed  to  suppress  it. 
"  We  have  been  to  Chicago,  to  the  pas 
senger  meeting." 

"  So  I  inferred.  Do  you  enjoy  Chicago, 
Mrs.  Burton?" 

She  felt  that  five  minutes  of  this  would 
unhinge  her  reason,  but  she  made  shift  to 
answer,  intelligently  :  "  Yes,  in  a  way;  but 
I've  never  been  about  much.  Mr.  Burton 
is  always  so  busy  when  we  are  there." 

' '  Precisely  ;  always  busy ;  that  is  the 
whole  history  of  civilized  man  in  two  words, 
115 


n6  A  ROMANCE   IN  TRANSIT 

isn't    it?     But   where   is   your   good    hus 
band?" 

"  He  is  in  the  wash-room,"  she  began; 
but  at  that  moment  Burton  appeared. 

"Ha!"  said  the  President;  "good- 
morning,  Mr.  Burton.  You  didn't  expect 
to  find  me  here  chatting  with  your  wife,  did 
you?" 

"  Well,  no,  not  exactly — that  is — "  Bur 
ton's  one  weakness  lay  in  undue  deference 
to  his  superior  officers,  and  he  stumbled 
helplessly.  But  his  wife  came  promptly  to 
the  rescue. 

"It's  such  a  distinction,  Mr.  Vennor, 
that  we  don't  know  how  to  properly  ac 
knowledge  it,"  she  retorted,  laughing, 
"  Will  you  excuse  me  if  I  finish  buttoning 
my  shoe  ?  " 

"Certainly,  certainly" — the  President's 
tone  was  genially  paternal ;  "I  merely 
wanted  to  have  a  word  with  Mr.  Burton ;  ' ' 
and  he  rose  and  drew  the  general  agent 
across  to  the  opposite  section. 

"Sit  down,  sit  down,  Burton;  don't 
stand  on  ceremony  with  me,"  he  said, 
patronizingly.  "I  came  to  ask  a  favor  of 
you,  and  positively  you  embarrass  me." 

Burton  sat  down  mechanically. 


YARD-LIMITS  1 1  7 

"I  learned  a  few  minutes  ago  through 
young  Brockway  that  you  were  on  the 
train,"  the  President  continued,  lowering 
his  voice,  "  and  I  understand  that  he  wishes 
you  to  take  charge  of  his  party  for  the  day 
on  the  trip  up  Clear  Creek  Canyon.  Has 
he  spoken  to  you  about  it  ?  ' ' 

"Yes;  he  was  here  just  now."  Burton 
answered  as  he  had  sat  down — mechanically. 

"And  you  consented  to  do  it,  I  pre 
sume  ?  ' ' 

"Why,  yes;  he  asked  it  as  a  personal 
favor,  and  I  thought  I  might  make  a  few 
new  friends  for  our  line.  But  if  you  don't 
approve ' ' 

"Don't  misunderstand  me,"  interrupted 
the  President,  with  well-feigned  magnanim 
ity ;  "  as  I  said,  I  came  to  ask  a  favor.  You 
met  my  daughter,  Gertrude,  when  we  were 
out  last  summer,  I  believe  ?  " 

"  Yes,  at  Manitou."  The  general  agent 
was  far  beyond  soundings  on  the  sea  of 
mystery  by  this  time. 

"  Well,  you  must  know  she  took  a  great 
fancy  to  your  wife,  and  when  I  heard  of  this 
arrangement,  I  determined  to  ask  you  to 
take  her  along  with  you  for  the  day.  May 
I  count  upon  it  ?  " 


Ii8  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

4 '  Why,  certainly ;  we  shall  be  delight 
ed,"  Burton  rejoined.  "  Let  me  tell 'v 

But  the  President  stopped  him.  He  had 
taken  time  to  reflect  that  a  little  secrecy 
might  be  judicious  at  this  point ;  and  he  was 
shrewd  enough  to  distrust  women  in  any  affair 
bordering  upon  the  romantic.  So  he  said  : 

"  Suppose  we  make  it  a  little  surprise  for 
both  of  them.  Keep  it  to  yourself,  and 
when  your  train  is  ready  to  leave,  I'll  bring 
Gertrude  over  to  you.  How  will  that  do  ?  " 

Burton  was  in  a  fair  way  to  lose  his  head 
at  being  asked  to  share  a  secret  with  his 
President,  and  he  promised  readily. 

"  Not  a  word.  Mrs.  Burton  will  be  de 
lighted.  I'll  be  on  the  lookout  for  you." 

So  it  was  arranged ;  and  with  a  gracious 
word  of  leave-taking  for  the  wife,  Mr.  Ven- 
nor  went  back  to  his  car,  rubbing  his  hands 
and  smiling  inscrutably.  He  found  his 
daughter  curled  up  in  the  great  wicker  chair 
in  an  otherwise  unoccupied  corner  of  the 
central  compartment. 

"  Under  the  weather  this  morning,  Ger 
trude?"  he  asked,  wisely  setting  aside  the 
constraint  which  might  naturally  be  sup 
posed  to  be  an  unpleasant  consequence  of 
their  latest  interview. 


YARD -LIMITS  119 

"  Yes,  a  little,"  she  replied,  absently. 

"  I  presume  you  haven't  made  any  plans 
for  the  day,"  he  went  on;  "I  fancy  you 
don't  care  to  go  visiting  with" the  Beaswicke 
girls." 

"  No,  indeed  ;  I  can  do  that  at  home." 

"  How  would  you  like  to  go  up  to  Silver 
Plume  with  Mr.  Brockway's  party?  " 

She  knew  well  enough  that  her  father's 
cold  eyes  had  surprised  the  sudden  flash  of 
gladness  in  hers,  but  she  was  not  minded  to 
reopen  the  quarrel. 

"  Oh,  that  would  be  delightful,"  she  said, 
annulling  the  significance  of  the  words  with 
the  indifference  of  her  tone  ;  "  quite  as  de 
lightful  as  it  is  impossible." 

"But  it  isn't  impossible,"  said  the  Presi 
dent,  blandly ;  "on  the  contrary,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  of  arranging  it — subject  to 
your  approval,  of  course.  I  chanced  upon 
two  old  friends  of  ours  who  are  going  with 
the  party,  and  they  will  take  care  of  you 
and  bring  you  back  this  evening." 

"  Friends  of  ours?  "  she  queried  ;  "  who 
are  they?" 

"Ah,  I  promised  not  to  tell  you  before 
hand.  Will  you  go?  " 

"  Certainly,  if  you  have  arranged  it,"  she 


120  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

rejoined,  still  speaking  indifferently  because 
she  was  unwilling  to  show  him  how  glad  she 
was.  For  she  was  frankly  glad.  The  gla 
mour  of  last  night's  revelation  was  over  the 
recollection  of  those  other  days  spent  with 
Brockway,  and  she  was  impatiently  eager  to 
put  her  impressions  quickly  to  the  test  of 
repetition — to  suffer  loss,  if  need  be,  but  by 
all  means  to  make  sure.  And  because  of 
this  eagerness,  she  quite  overlooked  the  in 
congruity  of  such  a  proposal  coming  from 
her  father — an  oversight  which  Mr.  Ven- 
nor  had  shrewdly  anticipated  and  reckoned 
upon. 

It  was  7.30,  and  the  train  was  clattering 
through  the  Denver  yards,  measuring  the 
final  mile  of  the  long  westward  run.  Ger 
trude  rose  to  g0  and  get  ready. 

"  You  needn't  hurry,"  said  her  father; 
"the  narrow-gauge  train  doesn't  leave  for 
half  an  hour.  I'll  come  for  you  when  it  is 
time  to  go." 

He  watched  her  go  down  the  compart 
ment  and  enter  her  stateroom  without  stop 
ping  to  speak  to  any  of  the  others.  Then 
he  held  up  his  finger  for  the  secretary. 

'  '  Harry,  when  the  train  stops,  I  want  you 
should  get  off  and  see  where  Brockway  goes. 


YARD-LIMITS  121 

You  know  him,  and  you  might  make  an  ex 
cuse  to  talk  with  him.  When  you  have  found 
out,  come  and  tell  me.  Do  you  under 
stand?7' 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Quatremain;  and  when 
he  had  kicked  his  pride  into  a  proper  at 
titude  of  submission,  he  went  about  the  er 
rand. 


XVI 

THE    MADDING   CROWD 

TWICE  a  day,  in  the  time  whereof  these 
things  are  written,  the  platform  of  the  Den 
ver  Union  Depot  gave  the  incoming  migrant 
his  first  true  glimpse  of  the  untrammelled 
West.  A  broad  sea  of  planking,  open  to 
the  heavens — and  likewise  to  the  world  at 
large — was  the  morning  and  evening  arena 
of  a  moving  spectacle  the  like  of  which  is 
not  to  be  witnessed  in  any  well-ordered  rail 
way  station  of  the  self-contained  East. 

Trains  headed  north,  east,  south,  and 
west,  backed  across  the  platform  and  drawn 
apart  in  the  midst  to  leave  a  passageway  for 
the  crowds ;  other  trains  going  and  coming, 
with  shouting  yard-men  for  outriders  to  clear 
the  tracks ;  huge  shifting  pyramids  of  bag 
gage  piled  high  on  tilting  trucks,  dividing 
with  the  moving  trains  the  attention  of  the 
dodging  multitude;  the  hurrying  throngs 
imbued  for  the  moment  with  the  strenuous 

122 


THE  MADDING  CROWD  123 

< 

travail-spirit  of  the  New  West ;   these  were 

the  persons  and  the  properties.  And  the 
shrieking  safety-valves,  the  clanging  bells, 
the  tinnient  gong  of  the  b"reakfast-room,  the 
rumbling  trucks,  and  the  under  -  roar  of 
matter  in  motion,  were  the  pieces  in  the  or 
chestra. 

It  is  all  very  different  now,  I  am  told. 
They  have  iron  railings  with  wicket-gates 
and  sentinels  in  uniform  who  ask  to  see  your 
ticket,  and  a  squad  of  policemen  to  keep  or 
der,  and  rain-sheds  over  the  platforms  (it 
used  not  to  rain  in  the  Denver  I  knew),  and 
all  the  other  appurtenances  and  belongings  of 
a  well-conducted  railway  terminus.  But  the 
elder  order  of  disorder  obtained  on  the  au 
tumn  morning  when  the  "  Flying  Kestrel  " 
came  to  rest  opposite  the  gap  in  the  bisected 
trains  filling  the  other  tracks.  Brockway 
was  the  first  man  out  of  the  Tadmor,  but  the 
gadfly  was  a  close  second. 

"No,  sir;  I  don't  intend  to  lose  sight  of 
you,  Mr.  ah-Brockway, ' '  he  quavered ;  and 
he  hung  at  the  passenger  agent's  elbow  while 
the  latter  was  marshalling  the  party  for  the 
descent  on  the  breakfast-room,  a  process 
which  vocalized  itself  thus  : 

Brockway,  handing  the  ladies  in  the  de- 


124  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

barking  procession  down  the  steps  of  the 
car :  "  Breakfast  is  ready  in  the  dining-room. 
Special  tables  reserved  for  this  party.  Wait, 
and  we'll  all  go  in  together.  Leave  your 
hand-baggage  with  the  porter,  unless  it's 
something  you  will  need  during  the  day. 
Take  your  time ;  you  have  thirty  minutes 
before  the  train  leaves  for  Clear  Creek 
Canyon  and  the  Loop." 

Chorus  of  the  Personally  Conducted  : 

"  How  long  did  you  say  we'd  have  ?  " 

"What  are  they  going  to  do  with  our 
car  while  we're  gone  ?  " 

"  Say,  Mr.  Passenger  Agent,  are  you  sure 
the  baggage  will  be  safe  if  we  leave  it  with 
the  porter?" 

"  What  time  have  you  now?  " 

"  How  far  is  it  over  to  those  moun 
tains?" 

"Oh,  Mr.  Brockway;  won't  this  be  a 
good  chance  to  see  if  my  trunk  was  put  on 
the  train  with  the  others  ?  ' ' 

"  Say;  what  time  did  you  say  that  Clear 
Creek  Canyon  train  leaves  ?  ' ' 

Brockway,  answering  the  last  question 
because  the  inquirer  happens  to  be  nearest 
at  hand  :  "  Eight  o'clock." 

The  Querist,  with   his   watch  (which  he 


THE  MADDING  CROWD  125 

has  omitted  to  set  back  to  mountain  time) 
in  his  hand:  "Eight  o'clock?  Then  it's 
gone — it's  half  -  past  eight  now!  Look 
here." 

Brockway,  who  is  vainly  endeavoring  to 
persuade  an  elderly  maiden  lady  to  leave 
her  canary  in  charge  of  the  porter  during 
the  day :  "  That  is  central  time  you  have, 
Mr.  Tucker ;  mountain  time  is  one  hour 
slower.  Careful,  Mr.  Perkins ;  let  me  take 
your  grip.  You  won't  need  it  to-day." 

The  Elderly  Maiden  Lady :  "  Now,  Mr. 
Brock  way,  are  you  sure  it'll  be  perfectly 
safe  to  leave  Dicky  with  the  porter  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  Somers,  sotto  voce  in  Brockway's  ear : 
"  Hang  Dicky  !  Let's  go  to  breakfast." 

The  Gadfly  :  "  Mr.  ah — Brockway,  you 
will  oblige  me  by  sitting  at  my  table.  I 
don't  ah — purpose  to  lose  sight  of  you,  sir." 

Brockway ',  to  the  porter:  "All  out, 
John?" 

The  Porter,  with  the  cavernous  smile  of 
his  kind  :  "All  out,  sah." 

Brockway,  sandwiching  himself  between 
two  of  the  unescorted  ladies  :  "All  aboard 
for  the  dining-room  !  " 

So  much  Harry  Quatremain,  standing 
aloof,,  saw  and  heard,  and  was  minded  to 


126  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

go  back  to  President  Vennor  and  make  his 
report  accordingly.  But  the  yard  crew,  al 
ready  busily  dismembering  the  "Flying 
Kestrel,"  whipped  the  Tadmor  and  the  pri 
vate  car  out  into  the  yard,  and  the  secretary 
was  left  standing  in  the  unquiet  crowd. 

Having  nothing  better  to  do,  he  saun 
tered  across  to  the  depot,  not  intending  to 
spy  further  upon  the  passenger  agent,  but 
rather  cudgelling  his  brain  to  devise  some 
pretext  upon  which  he  could  safely  lie  to 
the  President  and  so  appease  his  self-respect. 
The  pretext  did  not  suggest  itself;  and  after 
looking  into  the  dining-room,  where  he  saw 
Brockway  and  his  thirty-odd  in  one  corner, 
and  the  Burtons,  whom  he  knew  by  sight, 
in  another,  he  strolled  out  to  the  end  of  the 
building  where  the  yard -crew  was  switching 
the  Naught-fifty  to  its  place  on  the  short 
spur.  The  President  was  standing  on  the 
front  platform  ;  and  Quatremain,  having  no 
plausible  falsehood  ready,  reported  the  sim 
ple  fact. 

"  Very  good,"  said  his  employer.  "  Now 
go  back  and  keep  your  eye  on  him ;  and, 
at  precisely  five  minutes  of  eight,  come  and 
tell  me  where  he  is  and  what  he  is  doing." 

Quatremain  turned  on  his  heel  and  swore 


THE  MADDING  CROWD  127 

a  clerkly  oath,  well  smothered,  to  the  effect 
that  he  would  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  It 
was  not  the  first  time  the  President  had  used 
him  as  a  private  detective,  but,  happily,  use 
had  not  yet  dulled  his  reluctance.  None 
the  less,  he  went  back  to  the  door  of  the 
dining-room  and  waited,  and  while  he  tar 
ried  curiosity  came  to  keep  wrath  company. 
What  was  afoot  that  the  President  should 
be  so  anxious  about  the  movements  of  the 
passenger  agent?  The  secretary  could  not 
guess,  but  he  determined  to  find  out. 

Three  minutes  before  Quatremain's  time- 
limit  expired,  Brockway,  followed  closely 
by  a  slope-shouldered  old  gentleman  with 
close-set  eyes,  came  out  with  Burton.  He 
nodded  to  the  secretary  and  kept  on  talk 
ing  to  the  general  agent.  Quatremain  could 
scarcely  help  overhearing. 

"You  can  introduce  yourself,"  he  was 
saying;  "there  isn't  time  for  any  formal 
ities.  You'll  find  them  docile  enough — 
they  haven't  any  kick  coming  with  you,  you 
know — and  I'll  be  here  to  take  them  off 
your  hands  when  you  get  back.  No,  I'll 
not  go  over  to  the  train,  unless  you  want  me 
to ;  I'm  going  to  the  telegraph  office  with 
Mr,  Jordan  here,  and  then  up- town  to  see 


128  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

our  general  agent  about  his  ticket.  Good- 
by,  old  man  ;  and  thank  you  again. ' ' 

Quatremain  looked  at  his  watch.  It  was 
7.55,  to  the  minute,  and  he  walked  leisurely 
around  to  the  private  car. 

"Well?"  said  the  President,  and  the 
steady  gaze  of  the  cold  eye  slew  the  false 
hood  which  the  secretary  was  about  to  ut 
ter. 

"He's  in  the  telegraph  office  with  one 
of  his  people,"  Quatremain  replied,  angry 
enough  to  curse  himself  for  being  so  weak 
as  to  tell  the  truth. 

"  Very  good.  Go  into  my  stateroom  and 
get  the  mail  ready.  I'll  come  in  and  dic 
tate  to  you  presently." 

The  secretary  obeyed  as  one  who  may  not 
do  otherwise,  and  left  the  stateroom  door 
ajar.  A  moment  later,  he  heard  a  tap  at 
the  door  of  Gertrude's  room,  and  then  the 
President  and  his  daughter  left  the  car  to 
gether.  Quatremain  slammed  down  the 
cover  of  his  desk,  snatched  his  hat,  and  fol 
lowed  them.  He  had  paid  the  servile 
price,  and  he  would  at  least  gratify  his  cu 
riosity. 

He  caught  sight  of  them  in  the  crowd 
streaming  out  toward  the  Colorado  Central 


THE  MADDING  CROWD  129 

train,  and  scored  the  first  point  when  he  ob 
served  that  the  President  made  a  detour  to 
avoid  passing  the  open  door  of  the  telegraph 
office.  Then  he  kept  them  in  view  till  he 
saw  Miss  Vennor  give  her  hand  to  Burton  at 
the  steps  of  one  of  the  narrow-gauge  cars. 

At  that  moment,  Mrs.  Burton,  who  was 
comfortably  established  in  the  midst  of  a 
earful  of  the  Tadmorians,  chanced  to  look 
out  of  the  window.  She  saw  the  President 
and  his  daughter  come  swiftly  across  the 
platform,  saw  her  husband  step  out  to  meet 
them  and  shake  hands  with  Gertrude,  re 
marked  the  quick  flash  of  glad  surprise  on 
the  young  girl's  face,  and  the  nervous  anxi 
ety  with  which  the  President  consulted  his 
watch,  and  was  immediately  as  well  apprised 
of  the  inwardness  of  the  little  plot  as  if  she 
had  devised  it  herself. 

' '  Oh !  oh  / ' '  she  said  to  herself,  with  indig 
nant  emphasis ;  ' '  that  venerable  old  tyrant 
is  turning  her  over  to  us  to  get  her  out  of 
Fred's  way  !  And  he  hasri 7  told  her  that 
Fred  isn't  going  !  ' ' 

Now,  to  the  Emily  Burton  type  of  woman 
kind,  the  marring  of  a  plot  is  only  less  pre* 
cious  than  the  making  of  one.  The  little 
lady  had  never  been  known  to  think  deeply, 


130  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

but  a  grain  of  swift  wit  is  sometimes  worth 
an  infinity  of  tardy  logic.  Whatever  inter 
vened,  the  conclusion  was  clear  and  definite ; 
Brockway's  chance  must  be  rescued  at  all 
hazards — and  there  were  only  two  minutes 
in  which  to  do  it. 

She  scanned  the  throng  on  the  platform 
eagerly,  hoping  to  catch  sight  of  him,  but 
the  faces  were  all  strange  save  one.  That 
was  the  face  of  the  President's  private  sec 
retary  ;  and,  without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
she  beckoned  him. 

Quatremain  saw  the  signal,  and  made  his 
way  to  her  window,  taking  care  to  keep  as 
many  human  screens  as  possible  between 
himself  and  the  group  at  the  car  steps. 

"  Mrs.  Burton,  I  believe,"  he  said,  lift 
ing  his  hat. 

<  t  Yes  ' ' — hurriedly.  * '  Do  you  know  Mr. 
Brock  way  ?  ' ' 

Quatremain  bowed. 

' '  Do  you  know  where  he  is  now  ?  ' ' 

"  Yes ;  he's  over  in  the  telegraph  office." 

"  Will  you  take  him  a  message  from  me, 
quickly?" 

"  Certainly,  with  pleasure." 

< '  Then  tell  him  I  say  he  is  going  to  be 
lost  if  he  doesn't  catch  this  train ;  he'll  un- 


THE  MADDING  CROWD  131 

derstand.  And  please  hurry — there  isn't  a 
second  to  spare  !  ' ' 

Quatremain  nodded,  and  vanished  in  the 
crowd.  He  understood  nothing  of  what  was 
toward,  but  he  suspected  that  what  he  was 
about  to  do  would  somehow  interfere  with 
the  President's  plans,  and  that  was  sufficient 
to  make  him  run  when  he  was  well  out  of 
sight.  He  found  Brockway  in  the  telegraph 
office,  writing  a  message,  with  the  slope- 
shouldered  gentleman  at  his  elbow,  and  de 
livered  Mrs.  Burton's  message  verbatim  and 
shorn  of  any  introduction  whatsoever. 

The  effect  on  the  passenger  agent  was 
surprising,  if  not  explanatory.  "  Says  I'm 
going  to  be —  Not  if  I  know  it !  I  say, 
Tom" — flinging  the  pad  of  blanks  at  the 
operator,  to  call  his  attention — "  wire  any 
thing — everything — this  gentleman  wants 
you  to  ;  I'm  off!  " 

"  But,  Mr.  ah — Brockway,  I — I  protest!  " 
buzzed  the  gadfly,  clutching  at  the  passen 
ger  agent ;  but  he  was  not  quick  enough, 
and  when  the  protest  was  formulated,  there 
was  no  one  but  the  operator  to  listen  to  it. 

The  engine-bell  was  ringing  and  the  train 
had  begun  to  move  when  Brockway  dashed 
out  of  the  office,  and  the  appreciative  bystand- 


132  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ers  made  way  for  him  and  cheered  him  as  he 
sped  away  across  the  platform.  It  was  neck- 
and-neck,  and  nothing  to  choose;  but  he  was 
making  it  easily,  when  he  collided  squarely 
in  mid  career  with  the  tall  figure  of  the 
President.  For  a  single  passionate  instant 
Mr.  Francis  Vennor  forgot  his  traditions, 
and  struck  out  savagely  at  the  passenger 
agent.  The  blow  caught  Brockway  full  in 
the  chest  and  made  him  gasp  and  stagger ; 
but  he  gathered  himself  quickly,  swerved 
aside,  and  ran  on,  catching  the  rear  hand 
rail  of  the  last  car  as  the  train  swept  out  of 
the  station. 


XVII 

ON   THE    NARROW-GAUGE 

FOR  a  certain  breath-cutting  minute  after 
he  had  made  good  his  grasp  on  the  hand 
rails  of  the  rear  car,  Brockway  was  too  an 
gry  to  congratulate  himself.  A  blow,  even 
though  it  be  given  by  a  senior,  and  that 
senior  the  father  of  the  young  woman  with 
whom  one  chances  to  be  in  love,  is  not  to 
be  borne  patiently  save  by  a  philosopher  or 
a  craven,  and  Brockway  was  far  enough 
from  being  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

But,  fortunately  for  his  own  peace  of 
mind,  the  young  man  reckoned  a  quick  tem 
per  among  his  compensations.  By  the  time 
he  had  recovered  his  breath,  some  subtle  es 
sence  of  the  clean,  crisp  morning  air  had  got 
ten  into  his  veins,  and  the  insult  dwindled 
in  the  perspective  until  it  became  less  in 
cendiary.  Nay,  more ;  before  the  engineer 
whistled  for  Argo,  Brockway  was  beginning 
to  find  excuses  for  the  exasperated  father. 
i33 


134  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

He  assumed  that  Gertrude  was  on  the  train 
with  the  Burtons — Mrs.  Burton's  message 
could  mean  no  less — and  Mr.  Francis  Ven- 
nor  had  doubtless  been  at  some  pains  to  ar 
range  the  little  plan  of  separation.  And  to 
find  it  falling  to  pieces  at  the  last  moment 
was  certainly  very  exasperating.  Brockway 
admitted  it  cheerfully,  and  when  he  had 
laughed  aloud  at  the  President's  discomfit 
ure  until  the  sore  spot  under  his  right  collar - 
boue  ached  again,  he  thought  he  was  fit  to 
venture  among  the  Tadmorians.  Accord 
ingly,  he  made  his  way  forward  through  the 
two  observation-cars  to  the  coach  set  apart 
for  the  thirty -odd. 

His  appearance  was  the  signal  for  a  salvo 
of  exclamatory  inquiry  from  the  members  of 
the  party,  but  Brockway  had  his  eyes  on  the 
occupants  of  a  double  seat  in  the  middle  of 
the  coach,  and  he  assured  himself  that  ex 
planations  to  the  thirty  -  odd  might  well 
wait.  A  moment  later  he  was  shaking  hands 
with  Mrs.  Burton  and  Miss  Vennor. 

"Dear  me!  "  said  the  proxy  chaperon, 
with  shameless  disingenuousness ;  "I  was 
really  beginning  to  be  afraid  you  were  left. 
Where  have  you  been  all  the  time  ? ' ' 

"  Out  on  the  rear  platform,  taking  in  the 


ON  THE  NARROW-GAUGE  135 

scenery,"  Brockway  replied,  calmly,  sitting 
down  beside  Gertrude.  "  Didn't  you  see 
me  when  1  got  on  ?  M 

Mrs.  Burton  had  seen  the-little  incident 
on  the  station  platform  out  of  the  tail  of  her 
eye  as  the  train  was  getting  under  way,  so 
she  was  barely  within  truthful  limits  when 
she  said  "No."  But  she  looked  very  hard  at 
Brockway  and  succeeded  in  making  him  un 
derstand  that  Gertrude  was  not  to  know  any 
thing  about  the  plot  or  its  marring.  The 
young  man  telegraphed  acquiescence,  though 
his  leaning  was  rather  toward  straight  for 
wardness. 

"  Did  you  rest  well  after  your  spin  on  the 
engine  last  night  ?  "  he  asked  of  Gertrude. 

"  Quite  well,  thank  you.  Have  you  ever 
ridden  on  an  engine,  Mrs.  Burton  ?  " 

"  Many  times,"  replied  the  marplot;  and 
then  she  made  small-talk  desperately,  while 
she  tried  to  think  of  some  way  of  warning 
her  husband  not  to  be  surprised  at  the  sud 
den  change  in  Brock  way's  itinerary  for  the 
day.  Nothing  better  suggesting,  she  struck 
hands  with  temerity  when  Burton  appeared 
at  the  forward  door  with  the  conductor,  and 
ordered  Brockway  to  take  Gertrude  back  to 
the  observation-car. 


136  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  It's  a  shame  that  Miss  Vennor  should 
be  missing  the  scenery,"  she  said.  "  Go 
along  with  her  and  make  yourself  useful. 
We  will  take  care  of  your  ancients. ' ' 

The  small  plotter  breathed  freer  when 
they  were  gone.  She  knew  she  had  a  little 
duel  to  fight  with  her  conservative  husband, 
and  she  preferred  to  fight  it  without  seconds. 
Her  premonition  became  a  reality  as  soon  as 
he  reached  her. 

"How  is  this  ?  "  he  began;  "did  you 
know  Fred  had  changed  his  plans?  " 

She  shook  her  head.  "He  didn't  take 
me  into  his  confidence. " 

"  Well,  what  did  he  say  for  himself  ?" 

"  About  changing  his  mind  ?     Nothing. " 

"He  didn't?  that's  pretty  cool !  What 
does  he  mean  by  running  us  off  up  here  on  a 
wild-goose  chase  ?  ' ' 

"How  should  I  know,  when  he  didn't 
tell  me?" 

"Well,  I'll  just  go  and  find  out,"  Bur 
ton  declared,  with  growing  displeasure. 

But  his  wife  detained  him.  "  Sit  down 
and  think  about  it  for  a  few  minutes,  first," 
she  said,  coolly.  "  You  are  angry  now,  and 
you  mustn't  forget  that  he's  with  Miss  Ven 
nor." 


ON  THE  NARROW-GAUGE  137 

"  By  Jove  !  that  is  the  very  thing  I'm  not 
forgetting.  I  believe  you  were  more  than 
half-right  in  your  guess,  yesterday ;  but  we 
mustn't  let  them  make  fools  of  themselves — 
anyway,  not  while  we  are  responsible." 

"  I  don't  quite  savez  the  responsibility," 
retorted  the  little  lady,  flippantly.  "But 
what  do  you  imagine  ?  " 

"I  don't  imagine — I  know.  He  found 
out,  somehow,  that  she  was  going  with  us, 
and  just  dropped  things  and  ran  for  it." 

"  Do  you  think  he  did  that?  " 

"  Of  course  he  did.  And  if  we're  not 
careful  the  odium  of  the  whole  thing  will 
fall  on  us." 

' '  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about 
it?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  suppose  we  ought  to 
go  back  from  Golden  and  take  Miss  Venn  or 
along  with  us." 

"  Wouldn't  that  be  assuming  a  great  deal  ? 
You  would  hardly  want  to  tell  the  President 
that  you  had  brought  his  daughter  back  be 
cause  you  were  afraid  she  might  do  something 
rash." 

"Oh,  pshaw!"  said  Burton,  who  was 
rather  out  of  his  element  in  trying  to  pick 
his  way  among  the  social  ploughshares. 


138  A  ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

'  *  But  that  is  what  you  will  have  to  tell 
him,  if  we  go  back,"  she  insisted,  with  de 
licious  effrontery. 

Burton  thought  about  it  for  a  moment, 
and  ended  by  accepting  the  fact  merely  be 
cause  it  was  thrust  upon  him.  "  I  couldn't 
very  well  do  that,  you  know,"  he  objected, 
and  she  nearly  laughed  in  his  face  because 
he  had  fallen  so  readily  into  her  small  trap ; 
"  but  if  we  don't  break  it  off,  what  shall  we 
do?" 

"Do?  why,  nothing  at  all!  Mr.  Ven- 
nor  asks  us  to  take  his  daughter  with  us  on  a 
little  pleasure-trip,  and  he  doesn't  tell  us  to 
bring  her  back  instanter  if  we  happen  to  find 
Fred  on  the  train." 

Burton  was  silenced,  but  he  was  very  far 
from  being  convinced,  and  he  gave  up  the 
return  project  reluctantly,  promising  himself 
that  he  should  have  a  very  uncomfortable 
day  of  it. 

In  the  meantime,  the  two  young  people  in 
the  observation-car  were  making  hard  work 
of  it.  A  good  many  undiscussable  happen 
ings  had  intervened  between  their  parting 
and  their  meeting,  and  these  interfered 
sadly  with  the  march  of  a  casual  conversa 
tion.  As  usually  befalls,  it  was  the  young 


ON  THE  NARROW-GAUGE  139 

woman  who  first  rose  superior  to  the  embar 
rassments. 

"  I'm  glad  of  this  day,"  she  said,  frankly, 
when  they  had  exhausted  the  scenery,  the 
matchless  morning,  the  crisp  air,  and  half  a 
dozen  other  commonplaces.  "  I  enjoyed 
our  trip  down  from  Silver  Plume  a  year  ago 
so  much,  and  it  seemed  the  height  of  im 
probability  to  imagine  that  we'd  ever  repeat 
it.  Did  you  think  we  ever  should  ?  ' ' 

"  No,  indeed,"  replied  Brockway,  truth 
fully  ;  "  but  I  have  wished  many  times  that 
we  might.  Once  in  awhile,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  I  used  to  get  a  day  that  was  all  my  own 
— a  day  in  which  I  could  go  where  I  pleased 
and  do  as  I  liked.  Those  days  are  all  marked 
with  white  stones  now,  and  I  often  envy  the 
boy  who  had  them." 

"  I  think  I  can  understand  that." 

"  Can  you?  I  didn't  know  little  girls 
ever  had  such  days." 

"I've  had  a  few,  but  I  think  they  were 
never  given  me.  They  were  usually  stolen, 
and  so  were  doubly  precious. ' ' 

Brockway  laughed.  "Suppose  we  call 
this  a  stolen  day,  and  try  to  make  it  as  much 
like  the  others  as  we  can.  Shall  we?  " 

"It's  a  bargain,"  she  said,  impulsively. 


140  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"From  this  minute,  I  am  any  irresponsi 
ble  age  you  please ;  and  you — you  are  to  do 
nothing  whatever  that  you  meant  to  do. 
Will  you  agree  to  that?  " 

"  Gladly,"  Brockway  assented,  the  more 
readily  since  his  plans  for  the  day  had  been 
so  recently  demolished  and  rebuilt.  "  We'll 
go  where  we  please,  and  do  as  we  like ; 
and  for  this  one  day  nobody  shall  say 
« Don't !'" 

She  laughed  with  him,  and  then  became 
suddenly  grave.  "It's  no  use;  we  can't 
do  it,"  she  said,  with  mock  pathos;  "  the 
*  ancients  and  invalids*  won't  let  us." 

"Yes,  they  will,"  Brockway  asserted, 
cheerfully ;  ' '  Burton  will  take  care  of  them 
— that's  what  he's  here  for.  Moreover,  I 
shall  take  it  upon  myself  to  abolish  the  per 
versities,  animate  or  inanimate." 

"  Please  do.  And  if  Mrs.  Burton  scold 
me " 

"  She'd  better  not,"  said  Brockway,  with 
much  severity.  "  If  she  does,  I'll  tell  tales 
out  of  school  and  give  her  something  else  to 
think  about." 

"Could  you?" 

"You  would  better  believe  it;  she  is 
trembling  in  her  shoes  this  blessed  minute 


ON  THE  NARROW-GAUGE  141 

for   fear  I   may.     But  you  would   have   to 
stand  by  me." 

"I?  Well,  I've  promised,  you  know. 
What  place  is  this?  " 

The  train  had  entered  the  great  gateway 
in  Table  Mountain,  and  was  clattering  past 
the  Golden  smelting  works. 

"It    is   Golden — you    remember,    don't 

•  you  ? ' '      And    then    Brockway    bethought 

him  of  something.     "   Will  you  excuse  me 

a  minute,  while  I  get  off  and  speak  to  the 

agent?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Gertrude;  and  when 
the  train  skirted  the  high  platform,  Brock- 
way  sprang  off  and  ran  quickly  to  the  tele 
graph  office.  The  operator  was  just  coming 
out  with  a  freshly  written  message  in  his 
hand. 

"  Hello,  Fred,"  he  said  ;  "  didn't  know 
you  were  on.  Do  you  happen  to  know  a 
Miss  Gertrude  Vennor?  She's  with  John 
Burton's  party." 

"Yes,"  said  Brockway,  tingling  to  get 
hold  of  the  message  before  Burton  should 
come  along. 

"All  right;  give  her  this,  will  you?     I, 
can't  leave  that  blessed  wire  a  minute." 

Brockway   thrust    the   telegram    into   his 


142  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

pocket,  dodged  around  the  throng  of  station 
loungers,  and  won  back  to  the  rear  platform 
of  the  observation-car  without  seeing  or  being 
seen  of  the  general  agent.  Then  he  drew 
the  crumpled  paper  from  his  pocket  and  read 
it  shamelessly. 

"To  Miss  GERTRUDE VENNOR, 
"Care  John  Burton, 

"  On  Colorado  Central  Train  51. 
' '  Come  back  from  Golden  on  first  train.     Have 
changed  our  plans,  and  shall  leave  Denver  at  1.30 
P.M.  FRANCIS  VENNOR." 


XVIII 

FLAGGED   DOWN 

BROCKWAY  read  the  President's  telegram 
twice,  folded  it  very  small,  and  tucked  it  into 
his  waistcoat  pocket. 

"  That's  just  about  what  I  expected  he'd 
do,  and  it's  a  straight  bluff/'  he  muttered. 
"  All  the  same,  she's  not  going  back.  And 
I've  got  to  block  it  without  getting  Burton 
into  trouble." 

There  was  no  time  for  anything  but  the 
simplest  expedient.  He  jumped  off  again 
and  ran  back  to  the  telegraph  office. 

' 'Say,  Jim,  that  message  to  Miss  Vennor 
is  bulled.  Ask  Denver  to  repeat  it  to  Bea 
ver  Brook,  will  you?  "  he  said,  interrupting 
the  operator  as  he  was  repeating  the  train 
order. 

The  man  of  dots  and  dashes  finished  the 
order.  "  Can't  do  it,  Fred ;  get  me  into 
hot  water  up  to  my  neck.  Think  of  some 
thing  else." 


144  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  Will  you  help  me  if  I  do?  " 

"  Sure  ;  any  way  that  won't  cost  me  rny 
job." 

The  conductor  and  engineer  had  signed 
the  order,  but  Brockway  begged  for  a  res 
pite.  "  Just  a  minute,  Halsey,  while  I 
write  a  message,"  he  said,  snatching  a  pad 
of  blanks  and  writing  hastily,  while  the  con 
ductor  waited. 

"  To  FRANCIS  VENNOR, 

' '  Private  Car  050,  Denver. 

"Can't  you  reconsider  and  leave  Denver  to-mor 
row  morning,  as  previously  arranged?  Am  quite 
sure  Miss  Vennor  prefers  to  go  on.  Answer  at 
Beaver  Brook.  FREDERICK  BROCKWAY." 

He  tossed  the  pad  to  the  operator. 

"  There  you  are,  Jim  ;  don't  break  your 
neck  to  make  a  '  rush  '  of  it ;  and  when  you 
hear  the  answer  coming  do  what  you  can  to 
make  it  limp  a  little — anything  to  change 
the  sense  a  bit." 

"I'll  do  it,"  quoth  the  operator;  and 
then  the  conductor  gave  the  signal,  and 
Brockway  boarded  the  train  and  rejoined 
Gertrude. 

"Did  you  think  I  had  deserted  you?" 
he  asked. 

"Oh,  no;  and  Mr.  Burton's  been  in  to 


FLAGGED  DOWN  145 

keep  me  company.  He  came  to  ask  if  I 
didn't  want  to  go  back  to  Denver." 

"Did  he?"  said  Brockway,  wondering 
if  Burton  had  also  had  a  message.  "And 
you  told  him  no  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  did.  Haven't  we  made  a 
compact  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  but " 

"But  what?  " 

"You  said  you  were  going  to  be  irrespon 
sible,  you  know,  and  I  didn't  know  just 
where  it  might  crop  out." 

"Not  in  that  direction,  you  may  be  sure. 
You  said  we  were  to  do  as  we  pleased,  and  I 
don't  please  to  go  back  to  Denver.  But 
Mr.  Burton  seemed  to  be  quite  anxious 
about  it,  for  some  reason.  I  wonder  why  ?  ' ' 

"So  do  I,"  rejoined  Brockway,  inno 
cently. 

Gertrude  stole  a  glance  at  him,  and  he 
tried  to  look  inscrutable,  and  failed.  Then 
they  both  laughed. 

"You  are  keeping  something  back;  tell 
me  all  about  it,"  Gertrude  commanded. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  very  angry  if  I 
do." 

"I  shall  be  quite  furious  if  you  don't. 
My  !  how  close  that  rock  was  !  ' ' 


146  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

The  train  was  storming  up  the  canyon, 
dodging  back  and  forth  from  wall  to  wall, 
roaring  over  diminutive  bridges,  and  vying 
with  the  foaming  torrent  at  the  track-side  in 
its  twistings  and  turnings.  The  noise  was 
deafening,  but  it  was  bearable,  since  it  served 
to  isolate  them. 

"  Does  the  compact  mean  that  we  are 
to  have  no  secrets  from  each  other  ?  "  he 
asked,  not  daring  to  anticipate  the  answer; 
but  Gertrude  parried  the  direct  question. 

"  What  do  two  people  who  are  trying  to 
be  very  young  and  foolish  and  irresponsible 
know  about  secrets  ?  ' '  she  demanded.  "  You 
are  beating  about  the  bush,  and  I  won't  have 
it.  Tell  me  !" 

For  reply,  he  took  the  telegram  from  his 
pocket,  opened  it,  smoothed  it  carefully  on 
his  knee,  and  handed  it  to  her.  She  read  it 
at  a  glance,  and  a  faint  flush  came  and  went 
in  her  cheek,  but  whether  of  vexation  or  not 
he  could  not  determine. 

"  You  are  very  daring/'  she  said,  passing 
the  square  of  paper  back  to  him,  and  her 
voice  was  so  low  that  he  barely  caught  the 
words. 

"  You  told  me  I  wasn't  to  do  anything 
that  I  meant  to  do  :  I  certainly  did  not  pre- 


FLAGGED  DOWN  14? 

meditate  intercepting  your  telegrams  —  or 
answering  them,"  he  added. 

"  Then  you  have  answered  it  ?     How?  " 

He  turned  the  paper  over  and  wrote  his 
reply  on  the  back,  word  for  word. 

"  You  dared  to  say  that  to  my  father !  " 
she  exclaimed.  "  How  could  you  ?  " 

"  Under  some  circumstances,  I  think  I 
could  dare  anything.  But  you  are  angry,  as 
I  said  you'd  be." 

"  Of  course  I  am — very.  I  demand  to  be 
taken  back  to  Denver  this  minute." 

1 '  Do  you  mean  that  ?  '  ' 

"Didn't  I  say  it?" 

Brockway  tried  in  vain  to  read  a  contra 
diction  in  her  face,  but  the  steady  eyes  were 
veiled,  and  it  is  the  eyes  that  speak  when  the 
lips  are  silent. 

"I'm  sorry,"  he  began;  "it  meant  a 
great  deal  to  me,  but  I  know  it  was  inex 
cusable.  I'll  go  and  tell  Burton,  and  you 
can  go  back  from  the  Forks,  where  the  trains 
meet." 

Now  Gertrude  had  builded  upon  the  sup 
position  that  she  was  safe  beyond  the  reach 
of  recall,  and  she  made  haste  to  retract. 

"  Yes,  do !  "  she  said,  tragically  ;  "  make 
me  go  down  on  my  knees  and  beg  you  not  to 


148  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

— I'll  do  it,  if  you  insist.  How  was  I  to  know 
that  you  were  only  trying  to  humiliate  me?  " 

The  swift  little  recantation  gave  Bipckway 
a  glimpse  into  her  personality  which  was  ex 
ceedingly  precious  while  it  lasted.  A  man 
may  fall  in  love  with  a  sweet  face  on  slight 
provocation  and  without  preliminaries,  but 
he  knows  little  of  the  height  and  depth  of 
passion  until  association  has  taught  him. 
But  love  of  the  instantaneous  variety  has 
this  to  commend  it,  that  its  demands  are 
modest  and  based  upon  things  visible. 
Wherefore,  certain  small  excellences  of  char 
acter  in  the  subject,  brought  to  light  by  a 
better  acquaintance,  come  in  the  nature  of 
so  many  ecstatic  little  surprises. 

That  is  the  man's  point  of  view.  The 
woman  takes  the  excellences  for  granted, 
and  if  they  are  lacking,  one  of  two  things 
may  happen  :  a  great  smashing  of  ideals,  or 
an  attack  of  heavenly  blindness.  Gertrude 
was  of  the  tribe  of  those  who  go  blind ;  and 
deep  down  in  her  heart  she  rejoiced  in 
Brockway's  audacity.  Hence  it  was  only 
for  form's  sake  that  she  said,  "  How  was  I  to 
know  that  you  were  only  trying  to  humili 
ate  me  ?  ' ' 

"I  humiliate  you!"  he  repeated,  quite 


FLAGGED  DOWN  149 

aghast  at  the  bare  suggestion.  "  Not  know 
ingly,  you  may  be  very  sure.  But  about 
the  telegram  ;  you  are  not  angry  with  me 
because  I  was  desperate  enough  to  answer  it 
without  having  first  shown  it  to  you?  " 

"  I  said  I  was,  and  so  I  must  be.  But  I 
don't  see  how  you  could  have  done  other 
wise — not  after  you  had  promised  not  to  let 
anything  interfere.  Do  you  think  Mr.  Bur 
ton  had  a  telegram,  too?  " 

"I  was  just  wondering,"  Brockway  re 
joined,  reflectively.  "  I  think  we  are  safe 
in  assuming  that  he  hadn't." 

"  I  don't  care ;  I'm  not  going  back,"  said 
Gertrude,  with  fine  determination.  "  Papa 
gave  me  this  day,  early  in  the  morning,  and 
I'm  going  to  keep  it.  What  do  you  think 
of  an  irresponsible  young  person  who  says 
such  an  unfilial  thing  as  that  ?  " 

"  You  wouldn't  believe  me  if  I  told  you 
what  I  think." 

"Try  me  and  see." 

"  That  is  one  of  the  things  I  don't  dare 
— not  yet." 

"  You'd  better  not  abate  any  of  your 
daring ;  you'll  need  it  all  when  we  get 
back,"  laughed  Gertrude,  speaking  far  bet 
ter  than  she  knew. 


150  A  ROMANCE   IN  TRANSIT 

"  To  take  the  consequences  of  my  impu 
dence  ?" 

"  Yes.  You  don't  know  my  father;  he 
is  steel  and  ice  when  he  is  angry. ' ' 

Remembering  the  object-lesson  on  the 
station  platform  in  Denver,  Brockway  vent 
ured  to  dissent  from  this,  though  he  was 
politic  enough  not  to  do  so  openly. 

"  You  think  he  will  be  very  angry, 
then?" 

"  Indeed  I  don't — I  know  it." 

"I'm  sorry;  but  I'm  afraid  he  will  be 
angrier  yet,  before  long." 

"Why?" 

1 '  You  read  my  message  :  I  asked  him  to 
answer  at  Beaver  Brook.  He'll  be  pretty 
sure  to  send  you  a  peremptory  order  to  turn 
back  from  Forks  Creek,  won't  he?  " 

"Why,  of  course  he  will;  and  I'll  have 
to  go  back,  after  all — I  sha'n't  dare  disobey. 
Oh,  why  didn't  you  make  it  impossible, 
while  you  were  doing  it?  " 

"  I  had  to  do  what  I  could  ;  and  you, 
and  Burton,  and  the  operator,  had  to  be 
saved  blameless.  But  I'll  venture  a  pre 
diction.  As  well  as  you  know  your  father, 
you  may  prepare  yourself  to  be  surprised  at 
what  he  will  say.  I  am  no  mind-reader,  but 


FLAGGED  DOWN  151 

I'm  going  to  prophesy  that  he  doesn't  re 
call  you." 

"  But  why  ?     I  don't  understand " 

"We  are  due  at  Beaver  Brook  in  five 
minutes  ;  wait,  and  you  will  see." 

So  they  waited  while  the  pygmy  loco 
motive  snorted  and  labored,  and  the  yel 
low  torrent  roared  and  fled  backward,  and 
the  gray  cliffs  on  either  hand  flung  back 
the  clamorous  echoes,  and  the  cool  damp 
air  of  the  canyon,  flushed  now  and  then 
with  a  jet  of  spray,  blew  in  at  the  car  win 
dows. 

For  the  first  time  since  her  father  had 
suggested  the  trip  with  the  Burtons,  Gertrude 
began  to  understand  that  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  his  intention  to  give  her  an  unin 
terrupted  day  in  the  company  of  the  pas 
senger  agent.  But  in  that  case,  why  had  he 
proposed  the  trip,  knowing  that  Brockway's 
party  would  be  on  the  train  ?  The  answer 
to  this  query  did  not  tarry.  She  had  caught 
the  surprised  exclamations  of  the  Tadmori- 
ans  when  Brockway  made  his  appearance, 
and  they  pointed  to  the  supposition  that  his 
presence  on  the  train  was  unexpected.  And 
he  had  been  evidently  embarrassed ;  and 
Mrs.  Burton  was  curiously  distrait  and  un- 


152  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

mistakably  anxious  to  get  them  out  of  the 
way  before  her  husband  should  return. 

These  things  were  but  straws,  but  they 
all  pointed  to  one  conclusion.  Her  father 
knew,  or  thought  he  knew,  that  the  pas 
senger  agent  was  to  stay  behind  in  Denver, 
and  he  had  deliberately  sent  her  away  for 
the  day  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  anothe_ 
meeting.  And  when  he  had  discovered  that 
the  little  plan  had  miscarried,  he  had  quite 
as  deliberately  ordered  her  return. 

Speaking  broadly,  the  President's  daughter 
was  not  undutiful ;  but  she  was  sufficiently 
like  her  father  to  be  quickly  resentful  of  co 
ercive  measures.  Wherefore,  when  she  had 
cleared  up  the  small  mystery  to  her  own 
satisfaction,  she  hardened  her  heart  and 
promised  herself  that  nothing  short  of  a 
repetition  of  the  peremptory  order  should 
make  her  return  on  the  forenoon  train.  And 
the  shriek  of  the  engine,  whistling  for  Beaver 
Brook,  punctuated  the  resolve. 


XIX 

THE   FOOLISH   WIRES 

WHEN  President  Vennor  returned  to  his 
stateroom  in  the  private  car  after  the  choleric 
little  incident  on  the  platform,  he  found  his 
secretary  waiting  with  open  note-book  and 
a  sheaf  of  well-sharpened  pencils.  Quatre- 
main's  hands  were  a  trifle  unsteady  when  he 
began  to  write  at  the  President's  dictation, 
but  his  employer  did  not  observe  it.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Francis  Vennor  was  deep 
in  the  undercurrent  of  his  private  thoughts 
— thoughts  which  were  quite  separate  and 
apart  from  the  unbroken  flow  of  words 
trickling  out  through  Quatremain's  pencil- 
point  upon  the  pages  of  the  note-book. 
Mere  business  was  very  much  a  matter  of 
habit  with  the  President,  and  the  dictating 
of  a  few  letters  to  be  signed  "  Francis  Ven 
nor,  President/'  did  not  interfere  with  a 
coincident  search  for  some  means  of  retriev 
ing  the  morning's  disaster. 


154  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

It  was  a  disaster,  and  no  less.  He  began 
by  calling  it  a  mistake,  but  mistakes  which 
involve  the  possible  loss  of  fortunes,  small 
or  great,  are  not  to  be  lightly  spoken  of. 
By  the  time  he  reached  the  end  of  the  fifth 
letter,  he  had  run  the  gamut  of  expedients 
and  concluded  to  try  the  effect  of  a  little 
wholesome  parental  authority. 

"  Go  out  and  get  me  a  Colorado  Central 
time-card,"  he  said  to  Quatremain ;  and 
when  the  secretary  returned  with  a  copy  of 
the  official  time-table,  Mr.  Vennor  traced 
out  the  schedule  of  the  morning  trains,  east 
and  west.  Number  Fifty-one  was  not  yet 
due  at  Golden,  and  a  telegram  to  that  station 
would  doubtless  reach  Gertrude. 

"  Take  a  message  to  Miss  Gertrude, 
Harry,"  he  began  ;  but  while  he  was  trying 
to  formulate  it  in  words  which  should  be 
peremptory  without  being  incendiary,  he 
thought  better  of  it  and  went  out  to  send  it 
himself.  There  was  a  querulous  old  gentleman 
in  the  telegraph  office  who  was  making  life 
burdensome  for  the  operator,  and  it  was 
with  no  little  difficulty  that  the  President 
secured  enough  of  the  young  man's  time  and 
attention  to  serve  his  purpose. 

"  You  are  quite  sure  you  can  reach  Golden 


THE  FOOLISH  WIRES  155 

before  the  train  gets  there,  are  you  ?  ' '  he 
said,  writing  the  number  of  his  telegraph 
frank  in  the  corner  of  the  blank. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  replied  the  operator,  with  an 
upward  glance  at  the  clock ;  "  there's  plenty 
of  time.  I'll  send  it  right  away." 

< '  But  I  ah — protest !  ' '  declared  the  queru 
lous  gentleman,  and  he  failed  not  to  do  so 
most  emphatically  after  the  President  left 
the  office. 

The  operator  turned  a  deaf  ear,  and  sent 
the  message  to  Miss  Vennor  ;  and  when,  in 
due  course  of  time,  Brockway's  answer  came, 
he  sent  it  out  to  the  private  car.  The  Presi 
dent  was  still  dictating  and  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  letter  when  the  yellow  envelope  was 
handed  him,  but  he  stopped  short  and  opened 
the  telegram.  The  reading  of  Brockway's 
insolent  question  imposed  a  severe  test  upon 
Mr.  Vennor 's  powers  of  self-control,  and  the 
outcome  was  not  wholly  a  victory  on  the 
side  of  stoicism. 

"  Curse  his  impudence  !  "  he  broke  out, 
wrathfully  ;  "  I'll  make  this  cost  him  some 
thing  before  he's  through  with  it !  "  and  he 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  hurried  out  with  the 
inflammatory  message  in  his  hand. 

It  is  a  trite  saying  that  anger  is  an  evil 


156  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

counsellor,  and  whoso  hearkens  thereto  will 
have  many  things  to  repent  of.  No  one 
knew  the  value  of  this  aphorism  better  than 
Francis  Vennor,  but  for  once  in  a  way  he 
allowed  himself  to  disregard  it.  He  knew 
well  enough  that  a  delicately  worded  hint  to 
Burton  would  bring  the  general  agent  and 
his  wife  and  Gertrude  back  to  Denver  on  the 
next  train,  but  wrath  would  not  be  satisfied 
with  such  a  placable  expedient.  On  the 
contrary,  he  resolved  to  communicate  di 
rectly  with  Gertrude  herself,  and  to  rebuke 
her  openly,  as  her  undutiful  conduct  de 
served. 

In  the  telegraph  office  the  operator  was 
still  having  trouble  with  the  querulous  gen 
tleman,  but  the  President  went  to  the  desk 
to  write  his  message,  shutting  his  ears  to  the 
shrill  voice  of  the  gadfly. 

"  But,  sir,  I  must  ah — protest.  I  dis 
tinctly  heard  Mr.  ah — Brockway  tell  you  to 
send  anything  I  desired,  and  I  demand  that 
you  send  this ;  it  was  part  of  the  ah — stipu 
lation,  sir!  " 

"This"  was  a  message  of  five  hundred- 
odd  words  to  the  local  railway  agent  in  the 
small  town  where  Mr.  Jordan  had  purchased 
his  ticket,  setting  forth  his  grievance  at  length; 


THE  FOOLISH   WIRES  157 

and  the  operator  naturally  demurred.  While 
he  was  trying  to  persuade  the  pertinacious 
gentleman  to  cut  the  jeremiad  down  to  a 
reasonable  length,  the  President  finished  his 
telegram  to  his  daughter.  It  was  curt  and 
incisive. 

"  To  Miss  GERTRUDE  VENNOR, 

"On  Train  51. 

"  If  you  do  not  return  this  forenoon  we  shall  not 
wait  for  you.  FRANCIS  VENNOR." 

The  operator  took  it,  and  the  President 
glanced  at  his  watch. 

4 '  Can  you  catch  that  train  at  Beaver 
Brook?"  he  inquired. 

"Yes,  just  about. " 

"  Do  it,  then,  at  once.  Excuse  me — " 
to  the  gadfly — ' '  this  is  very  important,  and 
you  have  all  day  for  your  business." 

The  brusque  interruption  started  the  foun 
tain  of  protests  afresh,  but  the  operator 
turned  away  and  sat  down  to  his  instrument. 
Beaver  Brook  answered  its  call  promptly, 
and  the  message  to  Miss  Vennor  clicked 
swiftly  through  the  sounder. 

For  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  more,  Brock- 
way's  friend  in  the  Golden  office  had  been 
neglecting  his  work  and  listening  intently 


158  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

to  the  irrelevant  chattering  of  his  sounder. 
He  heard  Denver  call  Beaver  Brook,  and 
when  the  station  in  the  canyon  answered,  he 
promptly  grounded  the  wire  and  caught  up 
his  pen.  The  effect  of  this  manoeuvre  was 
to  short-circuit  that  particular  wire  at  Gol 
den,  cutting  off  all  stations  beyond  ;  but 
this  the  Denver  operator  could  not  know. 
As  a  result,  the  President's  telegram  got  no 
farther  than  Golden,  and  Brockway's  friend 
took  it  down  as  it  was  sent.  At  the  final 
word  he  opened  the  wire  again  in  time  to 
hear  Beaver  Brook  swear  at  the  prolonged 
11  break,"  and  ask  Denver  what  was  wanted. 

Thereupon  followed  a  smart  quarrel  in 
telegraphic  shorthand,  in  which  Denver  ac 
cused  Beaver  Brook  of  going  to  sleep  over 
his  instrument,  and  Beaver  Brook  intimated 
that  Denver  was  intoxicated.  All  of  which 
gave  the  obstructionist  at  Golden  a  clear 
minute  in  which  to  determine  what  to  do. 

11  If  I  only  knew  what  Fred  wants  to  have 
happen,"  he  mused,  "I  might  be  able  to 
fix  it  up  right  for  him.  As  I  don't,  I'll 
just  have  to  make  hash  of  it — no,  I  won't, 
either ;  I'll  just  trim  it  down  a  bit  and  make 
it  talk  backward — that's  the  idea  !  and  three 
words  dropped  will  do  it,  by  jing  !  Wonder 


THE  FOOLISH  WIRES  159 

if  I  can  get  the  switchboard  down  fine 
enough  to  cut  them  out  ?  Here  she  comes 
again." 

The  quarrel  was  concluded  and  Denver 
began  to  repeat  the  message.  Brockway's 
friend  bent  over  his  table  with  his  soul  in 
his  ears  and  his  finger-tips.  Denver  was 
impatient,  and  the  preliminaries  chattered 
through  the  sounder  as  one  long  word.  At 
the  final  letter  in  the  address,  the  Golden 
man's  switch-key  flicked  to  the  right  and 
then  back  again ;  and  at  the  tenth  word  in 
the  message  the  movement  was  repeated. 

"O.  K.,"  said  Beaver  Brook. 

"  Repeat/'  clicked  Denver. 

"  No  time;  train's  here,"  came  back 
from  the  station  in  the  canyon ;  and  Brock- 
way's  friend  sat  back  and  chuckled  softly. 


XX 

CHIEFLY    SCENIC 

WHEN  the  train  drew  up  to  the  platform 
at  Beaver  Brook,  Brockway  asked  Gertrude 
if  he  should  go  and  see  if  there  were  a  mes 
sage  for  her. 

"  No,"  she  said,  perversely  ;  'Met  it  find 
me,  if  it  can." 

It  came,  a  minute  later,  by  the  hand  of 
Conductor  Halsey.  She  read  it  with  a  little 
frown  of  perplexity  gathering  between  the 
straight  brows. 

"  Do  we  live  or  die  ?  "  Brockway  asked, 
crucially  anxious  to  know  what  his  friend 
had  been  able  to  do  for  him. 

"  Why,  I  don't  understand  it  at  all;  it's 
simply  Greek,  after  the  other  one.  Papa 
says  :  '  Do  not  return  on  forenoon  train. 
We  shall  wait  for  you.1  ' 

"  Good ;  I  am  a  true  prophet,  and  our 
white  day  is  assured." 

"Y — yes,  but  I  don't  begin  to  under 
go 


CHIEFLY  SCENIC  161 

stand  how  he  came  to  change  his  mind  so 
quickly." 

"  Perhaps  it  was  the  moral  force  of  my 
impudence,"  ventured  Brockway. 

"  Don't  make  any  such  mistake  as  that," 
she  said,  quickly.  "  Papa  will  not  forgive 
or  forget  that,  and  I  am  sorry  you  did  it. ' ' 

"  You  are  a  bundle  of  inconsistencies,  as 
you  promised  to  be,"  Brockway  retorted. 
"  But  I'm  not  sorry,  and  I  don't  pretend  to 
be.  If  I  had  smothered  my  little  inspiration 
and  given  you  your  telegram  at  Golden,  you 
wouldn't  be  enjoying  this  magnificent  scen 
ery  now." 

"No;  and  it  is  grand  beyond  words, 
isn't  it?  If  it  wasn't  for  the  name  of  it,  I 
could  rave  over  it  like  a  veritable  '  Cooky.' 
Can't  we  go  out  on  the  platform  ?  " 

"Yes;  but  you'll  get  your  eyes  full  of 
cinders." 

"  I  don't  care.     Let's  go,  anyway." 

They  did  it  and,  for  a  wonder,  found  the 
rear  platform  of  the  second  observation-car 
unoccupied.  Gertrude  wanted  to  sit  on  the 
step,  but  Brockway  objected,  on  the  score 
of  danger  from  the  jutting  rocks ;  so  they 
stood  together,  bracing  themselves  and 
clinging  to  the  hand-rails. 


1 62  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  Show  me  the  <  Old  Man  of  the  Moun 
tain  '  when  we  come  to  it,"  she  said  ;  "  of 
course,  there  is  an  '  Old  Man  of  the  Moun 
tain  '  ?  " 

"  There  is,  indeed,  but  we  passed  him 
long  ago — at  least,  the  one  that  is  always 
pointed  out  to  the  '  Cookies/  as  you  call 
them.  But  if  you  will  watch  the  outlines  of 
the  cliffs  you  can  find  one  of  your  own  in 
any  half-mile  of  the  canyon." 

"  I  don't  want  one  if  they  are  as  cheap 
as  that.  I  suppose  you  have  made  them  at 
a  pinch,  haven't  you?  when  you  had  for 
gotten  to  point  out  the  real  one  ?  ' ' 

"  I'm  afraid  I  have;  just  as  I  have  been 
obliged  to  invent  statistics.  But  that  is  the 
fault  of  the  man  with  a  note-book ;  he  will 
have  them,  you  know." 

"  Why  don't  you  tell  him  the  truth?  " 

"  Because  he  is  too  numerous  in  my  call 
ing  ;  and  again,  because  I  don't  often  know 
enough  of  the  truth  to  satisfy  him." 

"  But  it  is  wrong  to  invent  things,"  she 
protested,  dropping  her  irresponsible  role 
to  fight  for  the  love  of  truth  which  was  her 
Puritan  birthright. 

"  I  agree  with  you;  but  ciceronic  lying 
is  almost  a  disease.  It's  a  paragrapher's 


CHIEFLY  SCENIC  163 

proverb  that  railwayman  can't  tell  the 
truth,  though  I  think  a  good  many  of  us 
try  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  scenic  lie. 
That  seems  to  be  almost  necessary. " 

Gertrude  did  not  reply.  The  bounding, 
swaying  rear  platform  of  a  moving  train 
which  is  reeling  off  miles  and  mountain 
heights  of  a  stupendous  natural  panorama  is 
not  exactly  the  place  for  a  dispassionate  dis 
cussion  of  ethical  principles.  It  hurt  her  to 
believe  that  her  companion  did  not  love  truth 
in  the  abstract,  and  she  meant  to  have  it 
out  with  him  later ;  but  for  the  moment  she 
put  duty  aside  and  opened  the  door  to  en 
thusiasm. 

'•Just  think  !  "  she  exclaimed;  "  yester 
day  the  horizon  was  so  far  away  that  it  was 
actually  invisible ;  and  now  you  can  almost 
reach  out  and  touch  it.  Please  don't  let  me 
miss  anything  that  I  ought  to  see." 

' '  Did  anyone  show  you  '  The  Mule  ' 
when  you  were  up  here  last  year  ?  ' ' 

"No." 

"It  is  just  around  the  second  curve  ahead. 
Look  well  up  the  mountain-side  for  a  big 
bowlder  facing  the  canyon  ;  it's  a  picture, 
not  a  figure." 

She  followed  his  directions,  grasping  the 


1 64  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

hand-rails  and  leaning  far  out  to  get  a  wider 
view.  Brockway  wanted  to  put  his  arm 
around  her  and  hold  her,  but  not  daring  to, 
stood  by  to  catch  her  if  she  should  lose  her 
balance.  Presently  the  great  bowlder  cir 
cled  into  view,  and  she  got  a  very  satisfac 
tory  sight  of  the  pictured  mule  on  its  face 
before  a  sudden  swerve  of  the  train  swept  it 
out  of  range. 

"  How  wonderful !  "  she  exclaimed. 
"  How  did  anyone  ever  get  up  there  to 
paint  it?" 

"  It  is  only  a  '  water-painting/  as  the  peo 
ple  up  here  call  it;  a  natural  discoloration 
on  the  face  of  the  rock,"  he  answered.  "  Isn't 
it  life-like,  though?  " 

11  Indeed,  it  is;  it  is  almost  incredible." 
Then,  suddenly  :  "  That  isn't  a  scenic  fib, 
is  it?" 

"  No.  If  you'll  agree  not  to  flog  me  with 
my  own  whip,  I'll  promise  to  tell  you  the 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  all  day. ' ' 

"  Isn't  that  a  very  large  promise  ?  " 

Brockway  had  a  fleeting  glimpse  into  the 
book  of  prophecy  and  saw  that  it  might 
easily  become  so.  None  the  less,  he  would 
not  go  back. 

"  Large  or  small,  I'll  keep  it  to  the  letter. 


CHIEFLY  SCENIC  165 

But  now  I  want  to  show  you  something  else. 
Stand  right  here  beside  me  and  watch  the 
outlines  of  those  cliffs  on  the  right ;  just  the 
outline  against  the  sky,  I  mean.  Follow  it 
steadily  and  tell  me  what  you  see  when  I 
give  the  word. ' ' 

The  train  darted  around  a  sharp  curve  and 
sped  away  up  one  of  the  few  tangents  in  its 
tortuous  path.  "  Now  !  "  said  Brockway, 
as  the  timbers  of  a  culvert  roared  under  the 
trucks  of  the  observation-car. 

"  It's  the  Sphynx!  "  she  said,  with  a  lit 
tle  tremor  of  awe  in  her  voice;  "solemn, 
and  majestic,  and  grander  than  anything  I 
ever  imagined  !  And  I  never  even  heard  of 
it  before.  Do  people  know  about  it  ?  ' ' 

"  Not  many ;  and  those  who  do  are  hard 
ened  by  familiarity.  I  have  seen  it  a  great 
many  times,  but  it  always  gets  near  to  me, 
just  as  it  did  to  you." 

"I  shall  never  forget  it.  Please  don't 
show  me  any  more  wonders  just  now.  I 
shall  rave  like  the  most  foolish  '  Cooky  '  of 
them  all  if  you  do." 

"I  can't,"  said  Brockway;  "I  don't 
know  any  more. ' '  A  shrill  whistle  from  the 
engine  cut  the  sentence  short,  and  Gertrude 
asked  if  they  were  coming  to  a  station. 


1 66  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  Yes,  it's  Forks  Creek,  famous  for  its 
pies.  Everybody  eats  pie  at  the  Forks. 
Will  you  climb  down  from  the  heights  of 
the  sublime  and  go  and  eat  pie  with  me  ?  ' ' 

"  Anything  you  say/'  she  rejoined,  laugh 
ing  ;  and  a  few  minutes  later,  John  Burton 
the  canny  was  scandalized  to  see  the  Presi 
dent's  daughter  walking  up  and  down  the 
narrow  platform  with  the  passenger  agent, 
eating  her  half  of  an  apple  turnover  which 
Brock  way  had  bought  and  shared  with  her. 


XXI 

ON    THE   HEIGHTS 

JOHN  BURTON  was  scandalized,  and  he 
said  as  much  to  his  wife  when  the  train  was 
once  more  on  its  way  up  the  canyon. 

"  Emily,  there's  going  to  be  a  fracas  when 
we  get  back  to-night.  It's  my  opinion  that 
the  President  sent  his  daughter  with  us  to 
get  her  out  of  Fred's  reach." 

"  Then  it  serves  him  right,"  said  Mrs. 
Burton,  complacently.  "  She  is  not  a  child ; 
she's  old  enough  to  know  her  own  mind." 

"  That  may  be,  but  it  doesn't  let  us  out. 
I  wish  you'd  go  back  and  sit  with  them 
awhile." 

"And  get  myself  disliked?  No,  thank 
you.  I  may  not  shine  as  a  star  in  the  chap- 
eronic  firmament,  but  I'm  a  human  being. 
Think  of  it ;  put  yourself  in  Fred's  place,  if 
you  haven't  hopelessly  outlived  the  possibil 
ity,  and  see  how  you'd  like  to  be  duennaed 
at  such  a  time." 

167 


1 68  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"It  isn't  a  question  of  likes  and — "  but 
at  that  moment  the  truants  appeared  to 
speak  for  themselves. 

"  It's  chilly  out  there  in  the  open  car, 
and  we  came  in  to  talk  and  get  warm,"  said 
Gertrude.  "  Did  you  get  any  pie,  Mrs. 
Burton?" 

"  No ;  Mr.  Burton  wasn't  as  thoughtful 
as  Fr — as  Mr.  Brockway." 

"Mr.  Brockway  was  twice  thoughtful," 
laughed  Gertrude,  as  the  passenger  agent 
drew  a  pie  from  under  his  coat  and  pro 
ceeded  to  cut  it  into  quarters  with  his 
pocket-knife. 

Burton  said,  "  Oh,  pshaw  !  "  with  depre 
catory  emphasis,  but  he  accepted  his  allot 
ment  and  ate  it  with  the  others.  Afterward, 
when  the  talk  took  flight  into  the  region  of 
badinage,  he  went  away  and  devoted  himself 
dutifully  to  the  Tadmorians. 

When  he  was  gone,  the  trio  made  merry 
with  true  holiday  zest.  For  Gertrude,  the 
little  plunge  into  the  stream  of  unconven- 
tionality  was  refreshing  and  keenly  exhil 
arating,  and  she  bore  her  part  joyously,  for 
getting  the  day  of  reckoning,  and  seeking 
only  to  make  the  most  of  the  few  hours  of 
outlawry. 


ON  THE  HEIGHTS  169 

Brockway,  too,  drank  of  the  cup  of  levity, 
but  in  his  inmost  parts  he  stood  amazed  with 
sheer  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  real  Gertrude 
— of  the  woman  he  loved  divested  of  the 
mask  of  conventionality.  He  had  loved 
her  well  for  what  he  thought  she  was,  and 
had  been  content  to  set  her  upon  a  pedestal 
to  be  worshipped  from  afar  as  the  apotheosis 
of  adorable  womanhood.  But  the  light  of 
this  later  revelation  individualized  her ; 
ideals  and  abstractions  vanished  before  her 
living,  breathing  personality,  and  Brockway 
was  made  to  know  that  she  could  never  again 
be  to  him  the  mere  archetype  of  lovable 
womankind.  She  was  infinitely  more.  She 
was  the  one  woman  in  all  the  world  whose 
life  might  be  the  complement  of  his ;  the 
other  half  of  the  broken  talisman  ;  the  major 
and  truer  portion  of  a  mystic  circle  of  which 
his  being  was  the  other  segment. 

All  of  which  was  doubtless  very  roman 
tic  and  unmodern  in  a  sensible  young  man 
of  Brockway 's  practical  and  workaday  up 
bringing;  but  there  are  more  curious  seeds 
lying  dormant  in  the  soil  of  human  nat 
ure  than  the  analyst  has  ever  yet  classified  ; 
and  ideality  and  romanticism  are  but  skin- 
masked  in  many  a  man  whose  outward 


1 70  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

presentment  is  merely  the  abc  of  modern 
realism. 

So  Brockway  beheld  and  rhapsodized  in 
secret,  and  laughed  and  chatted  openly,  and 
sank  deeper  and  deeper  in  the  pit  of  perplex 
ity  as  the  train  burrowed  its  way  into  the 
heart  of  the  mountains.  For,  keeping  even 
pace  with  the  gallop  of  love,  pride  rode  mili 
tant.  Life  without  Gertrude  would  be  but 
a  barren  waste,  said  one  ;  and,  better  a  des 
ert  and  solitude  therein  than  an  Eden  en 
venomed  by  the  serpent  of  inequality,  re 
torted  the  other.  Which  proves  that  class 
distinctions  are  buttressed  from  below  no 
less  securely  than  they  are  suspended  from 
above ;  and  that  feudalism  in  the  subject  has 
become  extinct  in  one  form  only  to  flourish 
quite  vigorously  in  another. 

But  these  were  under-thoughts.  In  his 
proper  person,  the  passenger  agent  was  doing 
his  best  to  keep  his  promise  to  Gertrude ; 
to  make  the  day  a  little  oasis  of  care -free 
enjoyment  in  the  humdrum  desert  of  com 
monplace. 

At  Georgetown,  Burton  proposed  the 
transfer  of  the  entire  party  to  one  of  the  ob 
servation-cars  for  the  better  viewing  of  the 
Loop,  and  the  thing  was  done  forthwith 


ON  THE   HEIGHTS  171 

But  at  the  last  moment  Gertrude  decided  to 
remain  in  the  coach,  and  Brockway  stayed 
with  her,  as  a  matter  of  cour.se. 

"I've  seen  it  twice,  and  I  don't  care  to 
hang  over  the  edge  of  it,"  she  said.  "  Be 
sides,  it's  very  comfortable  in  here;  don't 
you  think  so  ?  " 

"I'm  not  finding  any  fault,"  Brockway 
rejoined.  "  I  wish  we  might  have  the  coach 
to  ourselves  for  the  rest  of  the  day. ' ' 

"  Do  you?  I  thought  you  had  been  en 
joying  yourself  all  along. ' ' 

"  So  I  have,  in  a  way  ;  but  I  hate  and 
abhor  a  crowd — I've  had  to  be  the  nucleus 
of  too  many  of  them,  I  suppose." 

"  What  do  you  call  a  crowd?"  she  in 
quired,  laughing  at  the  outburst  of  vindic- 
tiveness. 

"Three  people — sometimes.  Half  the 
pleasure  of  this  forenoon  has  been  slain  by 
the  knowledge  that  we'll  have  to  fight  for 
our  dinners  with  the  mob  at  that  wretched 
little  table  d'hote  at  Graymont." 

"  Can't  we  escape  it  ?  " 

"  Not  without  going  hungry." 

"  I  think  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burton  are  going 
to  escape  it." 

"  What  makes  you  think  that  ?  " 


172  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  This,"  said  Gertrude,  pointing  to  a  well- 
filled  lunch-basket  under  the  seat. 

"Praised  be  Allah!"  Brockway  ex 
claimed,  fervently.  "  You  can  trust  Bur 
ton  to  look  out  for  the  small  personal  com 
forts.  And  he  never  so  much  as  hinted  at 
this  when  I  was  grumbling  about  the  dinner 
awhile  ago.  I've  a  mind  to  punish  him." 

"How?" 

"  By  confiscating  the  basket.  We  could 
run  away  by  ourselves  and  have  a  quiet  lit 
tle  picnic  dinner  while  they  wrestle  with  the 
mob." 

But  Gertrude  demurred.  "That  would 
be  too  callously  villanous,"  she  objected. 
"  Can't  we  divide  with  them?  " 

"  And  go  away  by  ourselves  with  the 
spoils?" 

"Yes,  if  you  like." 

"  I  do  like.  I  know  a  place,  and  the  way 
to  get  there.  Are  you  good  for  a  climb  ?  " 
Brockway  possessed  himself  of  the  basket, 
spread  a  newspaper  on  the  opposite  seat,  and 
began  to  make  a  very  fair  and  equitable 
division  of  the  eatables. 

"  I'm  good  for  anything,"  she  said  ;  then 
she  pulled  off  her  gloves  and  helped  him 
divide  the  luncheon. 


ON  THE  HEIGHTS  173 

When  the  train  stopped  at  Graymont, 
Burton  went  forward  to  get  the  luncheon. 
The  coach  was  empty  whei^  he  reached  it, 
and  the  looted  basket  bore  witness  to  the 
designs  of  the  two  young  people.  The  gen 
eral  agent  wagged  his  head  dubiously,  and 
when  he  had  seen  the  last  of  the  Tadmorians 
securely  wedged  into  his  place  at  the  crowded 
table  in  the  hotel  dining-room,  he  failed  not 
to  lay  the  burden  of  gloomy  prophecy  once 
more  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  small  person 
who,  as  he  more  than  half  suspected,  was  re 
sponsible  for  Brock  way's  presence. 

By  that  time  the  subjects  of  the  prophecy 
were  well  out  of  sight  and  hearing  in  the 
narrow  ravine  in  which  the  great  canyon  has 
its  beginnings.  They  walked  the  ties  to  the 
end  of  the  track,  and  beyond  that  point 
picked  their  way  over  the  rough  ground  until 
they  came  to  a  trail  leading  up  the  northern 
acclivity.  Here  Brock  way  took  Gertrude's 
arm  and  together  they  began  the  ascent. 

"  Don't  forget  what  I  told  you,"  he  cau 
tioned  ;  "  you  are  not  to  look  back  until  I 
give  the  word." 

' '  Should  I  turn  into  a  pillar  of  salt  if  I 
did?"  she  asked. 

"Possibly." 


174  A  ROMANCE  /N  TRANSIT 

"  Then  I'll  not  do  it ;  it  would  be  rather 
awkward  for  both  of  us. ' ' 

A  hundred  feet  or  more  above  the  level 
of  the  railway  track  they  came  to  a  small 
plateau,  and  in  the  midst  of  it,  Brockway 
stopped  suddenly  and  spun  her  around  with 
her  face  to  the  southward.  No  uninspired 
pen  may  set  down  in  unmalleable  phrase  a 
description  of  what  she  saw ;  nor  can  any 
tide-gauge  of  language,  spoken  or  written, 
measure  the  great  wave  of  emotion  which 
swept  over  her,  choking  the  flood-gates  of 
expression.  From  the  moment  the  ascend 
ing  train  enters  the  canyon  at  Golden  until 
it  pauses  opposite  the  hotel  at  Graymont, 
the  scenery  is  rugged  and  inspiring,  but  it 
belittles  itself  by  its  very  nearness.  But 
from  the  plateau  where  they  were  standing, 
the  vista  expands  as  if  by  magic.  The 
mighty  mountain  at  whose  foot  the  train 
pauses  becomes  but  a  foothill,  and  just  be 
yond  it,  in  indescribable  grandeur  and 
majesty,  rises  the  huge,  snow-clad  bulk  of 
Gray's  Peak,  stupendous,  awe-inspiring, 
dazzling  the  eye  with  its  unspotted  mantle 
of  shimmering  white,  and  slaying  the  sense 
of  proportion  with  its  immeasurable  vastness. 

Gertrude  caught  her  breath,  and  Brock- 


ON  THE   HEIGHTS  175 

way  stood  uncovered  beside  her,  silent  and 
watchful.  When  her  eyes  began  to  fill  with 
tears,  he  broke  the  spell. 

"  Forgive  me,"  he  said,**  quickly ;  "it 
was  almost  cruel  not  to  prepare  you,  but  I 
wanted  to  see  if  it  would  appeal  to  you  as  it 
does  to  me. ' ' 

"It  is  unspeakable,"  she  said,  softly. 
"Shall  we  stop  here?  " 

"  No."  He  took  her  arm  again  and  to 
gether  they  climbed  higher  on  the  mountain-* 
side  ;  silently,  as  befitted  time  and  place, 
but  each  with  a  heartful  of  thoughts  too 
large  for  speech. 


XXII 

ON    THE    SPUR-TRACK 

AT  the  precise  moment  when  Gertrude 
and  Brockway,  pausing  in  their  breath-cut 
ting  scramble  up  the  bowlder-strewn  moun 
tain-side,  were  casting  about  for  a  suitable 
place  in  which  to  eat  their  luncheon,  Pres 
ident  Vennor  and  his  guests  were  rising 
from  the  table  after  a  rather  early  midday 
meal  in  car  Naught-fifty.  When  the  ladies 
had  gone  to  their  staterooms,  the  President 
sent  Quatremain  upon  a  wholly  unnecessary 
errand  to  the  post-office,  and  drew  up  a 
chair  to  smoke  a  cigar  with  Fleetwell. 

It  was  not  for  nothing  that  he  banished 
the  secretary.  The  forenoon  train  from 
Clear  Creek  Canyon  had  arrived  without 
bringing  Gertrude;  and  the  wires,  which 
he  had  waited  upon  with  increasing  dis 
quietude,  still  remained  churlishly  silent. 
A  crisis  in  Gertrude's  affair  seemed  immi 
nent,  and,  as  a  last  resort,  Mr.  Vennor  had 
176 


ON  THE  SPUR-TRACK  177 

resolved  to  admonish  Fleetwell,  to  the  end 
that  the  collegian's  wooing  might  be  judi 
ciously  accelerated. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  have  "been  lukewarm 
with  Gertrude  once  too  often,  Chester,  my 
boy,"  he  began,  with  studied  bluntness. 
"  You  ought  by  all  means  to  have  gone  up 
in' the  mountains  with  her  to-day." 

Fleetwell  tried  to  look  properly  aggrieved, 
and  succeeded  fairly  well.  "  That's  rather 
hard  on  me,  isn't  it?  when  I  didn't  so 
much  as  know  she  was  going  ?  ' ' 

"  That  is  precisely  the  point  I  wished  to 
arrive  at,"  the  President  asserted,  blandly. 
"  You  should  have  known.  You  can  scarce 
ly  expect  her  to  thrust  her  confidence  upon 
you. ' ' 

In  his  way,  Fleetwell  could  be  quite  as 
plain-spoken  as  his  hard-eyed  cousin,  and 
he  answered  the  President's  implication  with 
out  pretending  to  misunderstand  it. 

"  You  mean  that  I've  been  shirking ;  that 
I  haven't  been  properly  reading  my  lines  in 
the  little  comedy  planned  by  my  grand 
father ;  is  that  it?  " 

"  Well,  not  exactly  shirking,  perhaps,  but 
the  most  observant  person  would  never  sus 
pect  that  you  and  Gertrude  were  anything 


178  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

more  than  civilly  tolerant  cousins.  I  know 
her  better  than  you  do,  my  boy,  and  I  can 
assure  you  that  she's  not  to  be  so  lightly 
won.  Ours  is  a  fairly  practical  family.  I 
think  I  may  say,  but  there  is  a  streak  of  10- 
mance  in  it  which  comes  to  the  surface  now 
and  then  in  the  women,  and  Gertrude  has 
her  full  share  of  it.  Moreover,  she  doesn't 
care  a  pin  for  the  provisions  of  the  will." 

"Confound  the  will!  "  said  the  colle 
gian.  "  I  don't  see  why  the  old  gentleman 
had  to  fall  back  on  a  mediaeval  dodge  that 
always  defeats  itself." 

1  i  Nor  I ;  the  matter  would  have  been 
very  much  simplified  if  he  had  not.  But, 
unfortunately,  we  have  to  do  with  the  fact." 

"  It  strikes  me  that  we've  had  to  do  with 
it  all  along.  I  used  to  think  Gertrude  was 
rather  fond  of  me,  but  since  this  money  af 
fair  has  come  up,  I'm  not  so  sure  of  it." 

"Have  you  ever  asked  her?"  inquired 
the  President,  with  an  apparent  lack  of  in 
terest  which  was  no  index  to  his  anxiety. 

"Why — no  ;  not  in  so  many  words,  I 
believe.  But  how  the  deuce  is  a  fellow  to 
make  love  to  a  girl  when  his  grandfather  has 
done  it  for  him  ?  ' ' 

"  That,  my  dear  Chester,  is  a  question 


ON   THE  SPUR-TRACK  179 

you  ought  to  be  able  to  answer  for  yourself. 
You  can  hardly  expect  Gertrude  to  beg  you 
to  save  her  little  patrimony  for  her. '  * 

It  was  an  unfortunate  way*  of  putting  it, 
and  Mr.  Vennor  regretted  his  unwisdom 
when  Fleet  well  carried  the  thought  to  its 
legitimate  conclusion. 

"  There  it  is  again,  you  see.  That  cursed 
legacy  tangles  the  thing  every  time  you 
make  a  rush  at  it.  I  can  understand  just 
how  she  feels  about  it.  If  she  refuses  me  it 
will  cost  her  something  ;  if  she  doesn't  there 
will  be  plenty  of  the  clan  who  will  say  that 
she  had  an  eye  to  the  money." 

"  What  difference  will  that  make,  so  long 
as  you  know  better  ?  ' ' 

The  question  was  so  deliberate  and  mat 
ter-of-fact  that  Fleetwell  forgot  himself  and 
let  frankness  run  away  with  him. 

"  That's  just  it ;  how  the  deuce  is  a  fel 
low  going  to  know "  but  at  this  point 

the  cold  eyes  checked  him,  and  he  suddenly 
remembered  that  he  was  speaking  to  Ger 
trude's  father.  Whereupon  he  stultified  him 
self  and  made  a  promise. 

"Perhaps  you  are  right,  after  all,"  he 
added.  "Anyway,  I'll  have  it  out  with 
her  to-night,  after  she  comes  back." 


I  So  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  <  Have  it  out  with  her  *  doesn't  sound 
very  lover- like,"  suggested  the  President, 
mildly.  "  I  can  assure  you  beforehand  that 
you  will  have  to  take  a  different  tone  with 
her,  whether  you  are  sincere  or  not ;  other 
wise  you  will  waste  your  breath  and  enrich 
half  a  dozen  charities  we  know  of." 

"Oh,  I'll  do  it  right,"  said  Fleetwell, 
nonchalantly;  "but  I'd  give  my  share  of 
the  money  twice  over  if  it  didn't  have 
to  be  done  at  all — that  is,  if  the  money 
matter  could  be  taken  out  of  it  entirely,  I 
mean." 

They  smoked  on  in  reflective  silence  for 
five  full  minutes  before  the  President  saw  fit 
to  resume  the  conversation.  Then  he  said, 
slowly  and  in  his  levellest  tone : 

"  You  are  going  to  speak  to  her  to-night ; 
very  good — you  have  my  best  wishes,  as  you 
know.  But  if  anything  should  happen ;  if 
you  should  agree  to  disagree;  it  is  you  who 
must  take  the  initiative.  If  you  don't  mean 
to  marry  her,  you  must  tell  her  so  plainly, 
and  before  you  have  given  her  a  chance  to 
refuse  you.  Do  you  understand?  " 

Fleetwell  sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  he  had 
received  a  blow.  He  was  a  young  giant  in 
physique,  and  he  looked  uncomfortably  bel- 


ON  THE  SPUR-TRACK  181 

ligerent  as  he  towered  above  the  President's 
chair. 

"By  Jove,  I  do  understand  you,  Cousin 
Francis,  and  I'm  ashamed  to  admit  it !  "  he 
burst  out,  wrathfully.  "The  men  on  my 
side  of  the  family  have  all  been  gentlemen, 
so  far  as  I  know,  and  I'll  not  be  the  first  to 
break  the  record.  I  shall  do  what  my  grand 
father  expected  me  to  do — what  Gertrude 
has  a  right  to  expect  me  to  do — and  in  good 
faith ;  you  may  be  very  sure  of  that !  ' ' 
And  having  thus  spoken  his  mind,  he  went 
out,  leaving  Mr.  Francis  Vennor  to  his  own 
reflections,  which  were  not  altogether  glad 
some. 


XXIII 

THE    LAND    OF    HEART* S    DELIGHT 

"  HERE  is  the  place  I  was  looking  for/* 
said  Brockway,  handing  Gertrude  to  a  seat 
on  a  great  fallen  fir  which  had  once  been  a 
sentinel  on  the  farthest  outpost  of  the  tim 
ber-line.  "  It's  three  years  since  I  was  here, 
but  I  remember  this  log  and  the  little  stream 
of  snow-water.  Isn't  it  clear  and  pure?  " 

"  Everything  ought  to  be  that,  up  here  in 
the  face  of  that  great  shining  mountain," 
she  said  ;  and  then  they  spread  their  lunch 
eon  on  the  tree-trunk  between  them,  and 
pitied  the  crowded  Tadmorians  in  the  little 
hotel  below. 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  could  look  down  benig- 
nantly  on  the  whole  world,"  Gertrude  de 
clared,  searching  for  the  paper  of  salt  and 
finding  it  not.  "  The  things  of  yesterday 
seem  immeasurably  far  away ;  and  as  for 
to-morrow,  I  could  almost  persuade  myself 
there  isn't  going  to  be  any." 
182 


THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT     183 

"I  wish  there  wasn't  going  to  be  any," 
said  Brockway;  but  the  manner  in  which 
he  attacked  the  cold  chicken  slew  the  pes 
simism  in  the  remark. 

' '  Do  you  ?  I  could  almost  say  Amen  to 
that/'  she  rejoined,  soberly. 

' i  You  ?  I  should  have  thought  you  would 
be  the  last  person  in  the  world  to  want  to 
stop  Time's  train." 

She  laughed  softly.  ' '  That  is  very  human, 
isn't  it?  I  was  thinking  precisely  the  same 
thing  of  you.  Tell  me  why  you  would  like 
to  abolish  the  to-morrows — or  is  it  only  the 
very  next  one  that  ever  will  be  that  you 
want  to  escape  ?  ' ' 

6 '  It's  all  of  them,  I  think  :  but  you  mustn'  t 
ask  me  to  tell  you  why. ' ' 

"Why  mustn't  I?" 

"  Because  I  can't  do  it  and  keep  my  prom 
ise  to  tell  you  the  truth." 

"That  is  frank,  at  least,"  she  retorted. 
"I  hope  you  are  not  a  conscience-stricken 
train-robber,  or  a  murderer,  or  anything  of 
that  kind." 

"  Hardly,"  Brockway  replied,  helping 
himself  to  another  sandwich;  "but  you 
would  be  quite  horrified  if  I  should  tell  you 
what  I  have  really  done." 


1 84  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  Do  you  think  so?  You  might  try  me 
and  see,"  she  said,  half  pleading  and  half 
jesting. 

Brockway  thought  alDout  it  for  a  moment. 

"I'll  do  it — on  one  condition." 

* '  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  propose 
conditions  to  me.  What  is  it?  M 

"  That  you  will  tell  me  quite  as  truthfully 
why  you  agreed  with  me  about  the  abolition 
of  the  to -morrows." 

It  was  Gertrude's  turn  to  consider,  but 
she  ended  by  accepting  the  proviso. 

"  After  you,"  she  said,  with  a  constrained 
little  laugh.  "  But  who  would  ever  think  of 
exchanging  confidences  at  this  altitude  over 
a  stolen  luncheon !  ' ' 

"Not  many,  perhaps;  but  it's  quite  in 
keeping  with  our  compact ;  we  were  not  to 
do  ordinary  things,  you  know.  And  I'm 
sure  this  confession  I  am  going  to  make  is 
unpremeditated." 

1  i  Is  it  so  very  dreadful  ? ' ' 

"  It  is,  I  assure  you,  though  I  can  make 
it  in  five  words.  I  am  hopelessly  in  love — • 
don't  laugh,  please;  there  isn't  the  slightest 
element  of  levity  in  it  for  me." 

Nevertheless,  she  did  laugh,  albeit  there 
was  pain  at  the  catching  of  her  breath. 


THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT      185 

"Forgive  me,"  she  said,  quickly.  "I 
don't  mean  to  be  silly  if  I  can  help  it.  Tell 
me  about  it,  and  why  it  is  hopeless." 

"It's  the  old  story  of  Jack  and  his  mas 
ter,"  Brockway  continued.  "I  have  had 
the  audacity  to  fall  in  love  with  the  daughter 
of  one  of  my  betters. ' ' 

' (  One  of  your  betters  ?  I'm  afraid  I  can' t 
quite  understand  that.  Don't  we  live  in  a 
golden  age  when  Jack  is  as  good  as  his 
master,  if  he  choose  to  make  himself  so  ?  " 

"  By  no  manner  of  means,"  asserted  this 
modern  disciple  of  feudalism  ;  < '  the  line  is 
drawn  just  as  sharply  now  as  it  was  when 
Jack  was  a  bond  thrall  and  his  master  was  a 
swashbuckling  baron. ' ' 

' '  Who  draws  it?  the  thrall  or  the  baron  ?  ' ' 

The  question  opened  up  a  new  view  of 
the  matter,  and  Brockway  took  time  to  think 
about  it. 

"I'm  not  sure  as  to  that,"  he  said,  doubt 
fully.  "I've  always  taken  it  for  granted 
it  was  the  baron ;  but  perhaps  it's  both  of 
them." 

"You  may  be  very  sure  there  are  two 
sides  to  that  shield,  as  to  all  others,"  she 
asserted.  "  But  tell  me  more  about  your 
own  trouble.  Is  it  altogether  impossible? 


1 86  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Does  the — the  young  woman  think  as  you 
do?" 

"It  is;  and  I  don't  know  what  she 
thinks.  I've  never  asked  her,  you  know." 

"You  haven't?  And  still  you  sit  here 
on  this  log  and  eat  cold  chicken  and  tell  me 
calmly  that  it's  hopeless !  I  said  awhile 
ago  that  you  were  very  daring,  but  I'll  re 
tract  in  deference  to  that. ' ' 

"It's  not  exactly  a  lack  of  courage," 
Brockway  objected,  moved  to  defend  him 
self  when  he  would  much  rather  have  done 
something  else.  "There  is  another  obsta 
cle,  and  it  is  insurmountable.  She  is  rich — 
rich  in  her  own  right,  I'm  told  ;  and  I  am 
a  poor  man." 

"  How  poor?" 

"  Pitifully  so,  from  her  point  of  view.  So 
poor  that  if  I  gave  her  a  five-room  cottage 
and  one  servant,  I  could  do  no  more. ' ' 

"Many  a  woman  has  been  happy  with  less." 

"Doubtless,  but  they  were  not  born  in 
the  purple." 

"  Some  of  them  were,  if  by  that  you  mean 
born  with  money  to  throw  away.  I  suppose 
you  might  say  that  of  me." 

Brockway  suddenly  found  the  Denver  eat 
ing-house  cake  very  dry,  but  he  could  not 


THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT      187 

take  his  eyes  from  her  long  enough  to  go 
and  get  a  drink  from  the  rill  at  the  log-end. 

"But  you  would  never,. marry  a  poor 
man, ' '  he  ventured  to  say. 

"  Wouldn't  I  ?  That  would  depend  very 
much  upon  circumstances,"  she  rejoined, 
secure  in  the  assurance  that  her  secret  was 
now  double-locked  in  a  dungeon  of  Brock- 
way's  own  building.  "If  it  were  the  right 
thing  to  do  I  shouldn't  hesitate,  though  in 
that  case  I  should  go  to  him  as  destitute  as 
the  beggar  maid  did  to  King  Cophetua. ' ' 

Brockway's  heart  gave  a  great  bound  and 
then  seemed  to  forget  its  office. 

"  How  is  that?  I — I  don't  understand," 
he  stammered. 

Gertrude  gazed  across  at  the  shining 
mountain  and  took  courage  from  its  calm 
passivity. 

"  I  will  tell  you,  because  I  promised  to," 
she  said.  "  I,  too,  have  money  in  my  own 
right,  but  it  is  only  in  trust,  and  it  will  be 
taken  from  me  if  I  do  not  marry  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  provisions  of  my  grand- 
uncle's  will.  So  you  see,  unless  I  accept 
my — the  person  named  in  the  will,  I  shall 
be  as  dovverless  as  any  proud  poor  man  could 
ask." 


1 88  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  But  you  will  accept  your  cousin/'  said 
Brockway,  quickly  putting  Fleet  well's  name 
into  the  hesitant  little  pause. 

She  looked  steadfastly  at  the  great  peak 
and  shook  her  head. 

"I  shall  not,"  she  answered,  and  her 
voice  was  so  low  that  Brockway  saw  rather 
than  heard  the  denial. 

"  Why  ?  "  he  demanded. 

She  turned  to  him  with  sudden  reproach 
in  her  eyes.  "  You  press  me  too  hardly, 
but  I  suppose  I  have  given  you  the  right. 
The  reason  is  because  I — I  don't  think 
enough  of  him  in  the  right  way. ' ' 

"Tell  me  one  other  thing,  if  you  can — if 
you  will.  Do  you  love  someone  else  ? ' ' 
His  voice  was  steadier  now,  and  his  eyes 
held  her  so  that  she  could  not  turn  back  to 
the  shining  mountain,  as  she  wanted  to. 
None  the  less,  she  answered  him  truthfully, 
as  she  had  promised. 

"I  do." 

* '  Is  he  a  poor  man  ?  ' ' 

"He  says  he  is." 

"  How  poor?  " 

"  As  poor  as  you  said  you  were  a  mo 
ment  ago." 

"  And  you  will  give  up  all  that  you  have 


THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT      189 

had — all  that  you  could  keep — and  go  out 
into  the  world  with  him  to  take  up  life  at 
its  beginnings  ?  " 

"  If  he  asks  me  to.  But  he  will  not  ask 
me ;  he  is  too  proud. " 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

His  gaze  wavered  for  an  instant,  and  she 
turned  away  quickly.  "  Because  he  has 
told  me  so." 

Brockway  rose  rather  unsteadily  and  went 
to  the  rivulet  to  get  a  drink.  The  sweetly 
maddening  truth  was  beginning  to  beat  its 
way  into  his  brain,  and  he  stood  dazed  for 
a  moment  before  he  remembered  that  he 
had  brought  no  drinking-cup.  Then  he 
knelt  by  the  stream,  and,  turning  his  silk 
travelling-cap  inside  out,  filled  it  to  the 
brim  with  the  clear,  cold  water.  His  hands 
trembled  a  little,  but  he  made  shift  to  carry 
it  to  her  without  spilling  much. 

"  It  is  a  type  of  all  that  I  have  to  offer 
you,  besides  myself — not  even  so  much  as  a 
cup  to  drink  out  of,"  he  said,  and  his  voice 
was  steadier  than  his  hands.  "  Will  you 
let  me  be  your  cup-bearer — always  ?  ' ' 

She  was  moved  to  smile  at  the  touch  of 
old-world  chivalry,  but  she  fell  in  with  his 
mood  and  put  his  hands  away  gently. 


190  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"No  —  after  you;  it  is  I  who  should 
serve."  And  when  he  had  touched  his 
lips  to  the  water,  she  drank  deeply  and 
thanked  him. 

Brockway  thrust  the  dripping  cap  absently 
into  his  pocket,  and  stood  looking  down  on 
her  like  a  man  in  a  maze  ;  stood  so  long 
that  she  glanced  up  with  a  quizzical  little 
smile  and  said,  "  Are  you  sorry?  " 

He  came  to  himself  with  a  start  and  sat 
down  on  the  tree-trunk  beside  her.  "Sor 
ry  ?  You  know  better  than  that.  But  I  do 
believe  I'm  a  bit  idiotic  with  happiness. 
Are  you  quite  sure  you  know  what  you  have 
done  ?" 

"  Quite.  I  think  I  made  up  my  mind 
last  night  to  do  it — if  you  should  ask  me. 
It  was  after  our  ride  on  the  engine ;  after 
my  father  had  let  me  see  what  was  in  his 
mind." 

"Ah,  yes — your  father.  He  will  be  very 
angry,  won't  he?  " 

"  Yes  " — reluctantly. 

"But  you  will  not  let  him  make  you  re 
cant?" 

She  laughed  joyously.  "  You  think  you 
are  in  love  with  me,  and  yet  that  shows 
how  little  you  really  know  of  me,  or  of  the 


THE   LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT      191 

family  characteristics.  We  have  plenty  of 
unlovelinesses,  but  fickleness  isn't  one  of 
them." 

"Forgive  me,"  he  said,  humbly  ;  "but 
it  seems  to  me  there  is  so  little  to  hold  you, 
and  so  much  to  turn  you  aside.  I " 

A  series  of  shrill  shrieks  from  the  loco 
motive  in  the  valley  below  interrupted  him, 
and  he  rose  reluctantly.  "They're  calling 
us  in;  we'll  have  to  go." 

She  took  his  arm  and  they  ran  down  the 

steep  declivity,  across  the  small  plateau,  and 

.  so  on  to  the  bottom  of  the  railway  cutting. 

Just  before  they  reached  the  train,  Brockway 

asked  if  he  should  tell  the  Burtons. 

"As  you  please,"  she  replied.  "  I  shall 
tell  my  father  and  Cousin  Jeannette  as  soon 
as  we  get  back." 

They  found  the  passengers  all  aboard  and 
the  train  waiting  for  them,  and  Mrs.  Burton 
scolded  them  roundly  for  their  misdeeds. 

"  We  had  a  mind  to  go  off  and  leave 
you,"  she  said ;  "it  would  have  served  you 
right  for  running  away.  Where  ever  have 
you  been  ?  ' ' 

"  Up  on  the  hill,  taking  in  the  scenery," 
Brockway  replied ;  and  Gertrude  abetted 
him  with  an  enthusiastic  description  of 


192  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Gray's  Peak  as  seen  from  the  plateau — a 
description  which  ran  on  without  a  break 
until  the  train  paused  at  Silver  Plume, 
where  the  Tadmorians  debarked  to  burrow 
in  a  silver  mine.  Burton  burrowed  with 
them,  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  his  wife  de 
clined  to  go. 

"  I  shall  stay  right  here  and  keep  an  eye 
on  these  truants,"  she  declared,  with  great 
severity.  And  Brockway  and  Gertrude  ex 
changed  comforting  glances — as  who  should 
say,  "What  matters  it  now  ?M — and  clasped 
hands  under  cover  of  the  stir  of  debarkation. 
And  Mrs.  Burton  saw  all  this  without  seem 
ing  to,  and  rejoiced  gleefully  at  the  bottom 
of  her  match-making  heart. 

When  the  Tadmorians  had  inspected  the 
mine,  and  had  come  back  muddy  and  be 
sprinkled  with  water  and  besmirched  with 
candle  -  drippings,  the  train  went  on  its 
way  down  the  canyon.  Having  done  what 
he  might  toward  pumping  the  well  of  tour 
ist  curiosity  dry  on  the  outward  journey, 
Burton  was  given  a  little  rest  during  the 
afternoon  ;  and  the  quartette  sat  together  in 
the  coach  and  talked  commonplace  inan 
ities  when  they  talked  at  all.  And  the  bur 
den  of  even  this  desultory  conversation  fell 


THE  LAND  OF  HEART'S  DELIGHT      193 

mainly  upon  the  general  agent  and  his  wife. 
The  two  young  people  were  tranquilly  hap 
py,  quite  content  to  be  going  or  staying,  or 
what  not,  so  long  as  they  could  be  together. 

At  Golden,  Brockway  ran  out  and  se 
cured  a  copy  of  the  President's  telegram  as 
it  stood  when  written  ;  and  when  opportu 
nity  offered,  he  showed  it  to  Gertrude. 

' '  It  was  purposely  garbled  by  a  friend  of 
mine,"  he  confessed,  shamelessly;  "  but 
how  much  or  how  little  I  didn't  know  till 
now.  I  have  no  excuse  to  offer  but  the  one 
you  know.  I  thought  it  was  my  last  chance 
to  ever  spend  a  day  with  you,  and  I  would 
have  done  a  much  worse  thing  rather  than 
lose  it.  Can  you  forgive  me  ?  ' ' 

"Forgive  you  for  daring  to  make  me 
happy  ?  I  should  be  something  more  or 
less  than  a  woman  if  I  didn't.  But  my 
father  won't." 

"  No,  I  suppose  not.  But  you  must  not 
try  to  shield  me.  When  you  tell  him,  let  it 
be  clearly  understood  that  I  alone  am  to 
blame.  Is  there  any  probability  that  he  has 
carried  out  his  threat  of  leaving  you  behind  ? ' ' 

"  Not  the  least,"  she  replied,  confidently ; 
< '  it  was  only  what  you  of  the  West  would 
call  a— a  little  bluff,  I  think." 


194  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  You  still  think  it  will  be  better  for  you 
to  tell  him  first?  that  I'd  better  not  go  to 
him  at  once  ?  ' ' 

"I  do ;  but  you  may  speak  to  him  after 
ward,  if  you  think  best." 

"  It  must  be  this  evening.  When  shall  I 
come  ? ' ' 

' '  Any  time  after  dinner.  If  you  will 
watch  the  window  of  my  stateroom,  I'll  let 
you  know  when  you  can  find  him  alone." 

The  day  was  going  out  in  a  dusty  twilight, 
and  they  were  again  standing  on  the  rear 
platform  of  the  second  observation-car. 
When  the  train  clattered  in  over  the  switches 
and  stopped  on  the  outer  track  of  the  Denver 
station  platform,  this  last  car  was  screened 
by  the  dimly  lighted  hulk  of  the  Tadmor 
switched  in  to  receive  its  lading.  Brockway 
ran  down  the  steps  and  swung  Gertrude 
lightly  to  the  platform  ;  after  which  he  put 
his  arms  about  her  and  kissed  her  passion 
ately. 

"  God  knows  when  the  next  time  will 
be,"  he  said,  with  a  sudden  foreboding  of 
evil ;  and  then  he  took  her  arm  and  led  her 
swiftly  across  to  the  private  car,  leaving  the 
Burtons  to  go  whither  they  would. 


XXIV 

THE    END    OF    A    STOP-OVER 

THE  waiter  was  laying  the  plates  for  din 
ner  when  Gertrude  came  out  of  her  state 
room,  and  Fleet  well  rose  and  placed  a  chair 
for  her  where  they  would  be  out  of  earshot 
of  the  others. 

"  Had  a  comfortably  good  time  to-day  ?  " 
he  inquired,  stretching  himself  lazily  on  the 
lounge  at  her  side. 

"  Yes.     What  have  you  been  doing  ?  " 

"  '  Socializing/  as  Priscilla  says;  canter 
ing  about  all  over  Denver,  looking  up  peo 
ple  we  shouldn't  nod  to  at  home.  Where 
are  your  friends  ?  ' ' 

' '  The  Burtons  ?  I  think  they  went  to  a 
hotel.  They  are  not  going  on  till  to-morrow 
night." 

"  I  wonder  what  became  of  the  passenger 
agent ;  I  haven't  seen  him  since  morning," 
said  the  collegian,  with  his  eyes  lying  in 
wait  to  pounce  upon  her  secret. 


196  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  He  was  with  us,"  she  replied,  calmly, 
and  Fleetvvell  sat  up  immediately. 

"Oughtn't  I  to  be  jealous?"  he  de 
manded. 

"  I  don't  know  why  you  should  be?  " 

"  I  fancy  the  others  would  say  I  ought  to 
be." 

"Why?" 

"For  obvious  reasons;  aren't  we  sup^ 
posed  to  be  as  good  as  engaged  ?  ' ' 

"I  don't  know  about  the  supposition; 
but  we  are  not  engaged." 

"  No ;  and  your  father  says  it's  my  fault. 
Will  you  set  the  day?" 

Her  smile  was  sweet  and  ineffable.  ' '  What 
an  enthusiastic  wooer  you  are,  Cousin  Ches 
ter.  Couldn't  you  rake  up  the  embers  and 
fan  them  into  a  tiny  bit  of  a  blaze  ?  just  for 
form's  sake,  you  know." 

"  That's  nonsense,"  he  answered,  placidly. 
"  We've  known  each  other  too  long  for  any 
thing  of  that  sort.  But  you  haven't  answered 
my  question." 

"About  the  day?  That  is  nonsense,  too. 
You  know  perfectly  well  there  isn't  going  to 
be  any  day — not  for  us." 

Fleetwell  drew  a  long  breath  and  ran  his 
fingers  through  his  hair. 


THE   END  OF  A  STOP-OVER          197 

"Don't  let  us  make  any  mistake  about 
this,"  he  said,  soberly.  "I'm  asking  you 
in  good  faith  to  be  my  wife,  you  know. ' ' 

* '  And  I  am  refusing  you  in  equally  good 
faith.  I  don't  love  you  at  all — not  in  that 
way. ' ' 

1 '  You  are  quite  sure  of  that  ?  ' ' 

"  Yes,  surer  now  than  ever  before,  though 
I've  known  it  all  along." 

"  Then  you  refuse  me  point  blank?  " 

"I  do." 

He  fetched  another  long  breath  and  took 
her  hand. 

"  That's  the  kindest  thing  you  ever  did 
for  me,  Gerty , ' '  he  said,  out  of  a  full  heart. 
"I — I'm  ashamed  to  confess  it,  but  I've 
been  disloyal  all  along.  It's " 

"It's  Hannah  Beaswicke ;  I  knew  it,"  she 
said,  smiling  wisely.  "  But  don't  humiliate 
yourself;  I,  too,  have  been  'disloyal,'  as 
you  call  it." 

"You?" 

"  Yes ;  I'll  tell  you  about  it  some  time — 
no,  not  now  " — shaking  her  head — "  dinner 
is  ready." 

It  was  thus  that  Fleetwell  kept  his  prom 
ise  to  his  cousin,  and  there  had  been  never 
so  much  as  a  word  about  what  Mr.  Francis 


198  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

Vennor  considered  the  main  question  at  is 
sue,  namely,  the  fate  of  Gertrude's  legacy. 
And  when  they  came  to  the  table  together 
they  were  so  evidently  at  peace  that  the 
President  drew  another  false  conclusion  and 
wore  his  best  King  George  smile  throughout 
the  entire  dinner -hour. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meal,  Fleetwell 
dodged  the  customary  cigar  with  his  cousin. 
Under  the  circumstances  he  deemed  it  pru 
dent  to  give  the  chapter  of  accidents  a  clear 
field.  Moreover,  he  conjectured  that  Ger 
trude  had  somewhat  to  say  to  her  father,  and 
would  be  grateful  for  an  undisturbed  half- 
hour  ;  wherefore  he  proposed  a  stroll  up 
town  to  Mrs.  Dunham  and  the  Misses  Beas- 
wicke,  and  presently  left  the  car  with  the 
three  of  them  in  tow. 

The  President  was  in  his  stateroom,  re 
filling  his  cigar-case ;  and  when  he  came 
out,  Gertrude  and  Quatremain  were  alone 
in  the  large  compartment. 

"Where    are   the   others?"    he    asked, 
pausing  at  her  chair  to  light  his  cigar. 
"  They  have  gone  up-town  for  a  walk." 
"  H-m  ;  and  left  you  behind  ?  " 
"  I  didn't  care  to  go."     She  saw  that  her 
opportunity  was  come,  and  gave  the  secre- 


THE  END  OF  A  STOP-OVER          199 

tary  a  look  which  should  have  made  him 
vanish  at  once.  It  did  not,  but  her  father 
cut  the  knot  of  that  difficulty. 

"  It's  a  fine  night;  will  you  take  a  turn 
outside  with  me,  while  I  smoke  ?"  he  said. 

She  acquiesced,  and  they  went  out  to 
pace  up  and  down  the  long  platform.  Two 
turns  they  made  in  silence  while  Gertrude 
sought  vainly  for  words  confessional,  and  at 
the  third  her  father  helped  her  without  in 
tending  to. 

"  When  is  it  to  be?  "  he  asked,  abruptly. 

She  supposed  he  meant  her  marriage  to 
Brockway,  but  she  determined  to  make  him 
speak  plainly.  So  she  said,  "  When  is  what 
to  be?" 

"  Your  marriage.  Didn't  you  and  Ches 
ter  settle  matters  between  you  just  before 
dinner?" 

She  laid  fresh  hold  of  her  courage  and 
answered,  truthfully.  "  Yes,  but  not  as  you 
imagine.  Chester  asked  me,  because,  I 
fancy,  you  told  him  to ;  and  I  refused 
him." 

She  expected  nothing  less  than  an  out 
pouring  of  bitter  words,  but  she  was  dis 
appointed.  Once  and  again  they  measured 
the  length  of  the  great  platform  before  he 


200  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

spoke.  Then  he  said,  quite  temperately, 
she  thought,  "  So  it  is  the  passenger  agent, 
after  all,  is  it  ?  " 

"Yes."  She  said  it  resolutely,  as  one 
who  may  not  be  moved. 

1 '  Very  good  ;  you  are  your  own  mistress, 
and  if  you  elect  to  be  the  wife  of  a  wage- 
earning  mechanic,  I  suppose  it's  your  own 
affair." 

There  was  so  little  heat  in  the  innuendo 
that  it  seemed  scarcely  worth  while  to  re 
sent  it ;  nevertheless  she  ventured  to  say : 
"  Great-grandfather  Vennor  was  a  carpenter, 
and  I  suppose  he  worked  for  wages." 

' i  Doubtless  j  but  there  is  the  better  part 
of  a  century  between  then  and  now.  How 
ever,  I  presume  you  have  counted  the  cost. 
You  lose  your  money,  and  that's  the  end  of 
it — unless  Chester  happens  to  marry  first. ' ' 

"  What  difference  would  that  make?  It 
was  I  who  set  the  conditions  of  the  will 
aside." 

"  All  the  difference  in  the  world.  In  this 
case,  the  law  takes  no  cognizance  of  inten 
tion.  If  Chester  marries  first,  it  would  be 
taken  as  prima  facie  evidence  that  he  had 
prevented  you  from  fulfilling  your  part  of 
the  conditions.  But  that  is  neither  here  nor 


THE   END  OF  A  STOP-OVER          201 

there  ;  Chester  is  not  exactly  the  kind  of 
man  to  be  caught  in  the  rebound  ;  and  I 
presume  you  wouldn't  be  mercenary  enough 
to  wait  for  anything  so  indefinite  as  his  mar 
riage,  anyway." 

"No." 

' l  Then  you  lose  your  money. ' '  He  could 
not  forbear  the  repetition. 

"I  know  it." 

(t  Does  your — does  the  young  man  know 
it?" 

"Yes;  otherwise  he  would  not  have 
spoken." 

"  No?"  There  was  the  mildest  sugges 
tion  of  incredulity  in  the  upward  inflection. 
"  Since  you  have  made  your  decision,  it  is 
as  well  you  should  think  so.  You  are  quite 
willing  to  begin  at  the  bottom  with  him,  are 
you?" 

"I  am." 

"Because  I  meant  what  I  said  last  night. 
You  have  made  your  bed,  and  you  will  have 
to  lie  on  it ;  you  will  get  nothing  from  me. ' ' 

"We  ask  nothing  but — but  your  good 
will."  Gertrude  was  as  undemonstrative  as 
the  daughter  of  Francis  Vennor  had  a  right 
to  be,  but  his  coldness  went  near  to  break 
ing  down  her  fortitude. 


202  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  My  good  will !  "  He  turned  upon  her 
almost  fiercely.  "  You  have  no  right  to 
expect  it.  What  has  come  over  you  in  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  that  you  should  over 
ride  the  traditions  and  training  of  your  whole 
life  ?  Has  this  fellow  but  to  crook  his  finger 
at  you  to  make  you  turn  your  back  upon 
everything  that  is  decent  and  respecta 
ble  ?  " 

"  Don't,"  she  said,  with  a  little  sob  in 
her  voice  ;  "  I  can't  listen  if  you  abuse  him. 
I  love  him ;  do  you  understand  what  that 
means  ? ' ' 

"  No,  I  don't;  you  are  daft,  crazy, 
hypnotized."  The  gathering  throng  was 
beginning  to  make  privacy  impossible  on  the 
platform,  and  he  led  her  back  to  the  car. 
"You'll  do  as  you  please  in  the  end,  I  sup 
pose,  but  not  here  or  now."  He  handed 
her  up  the  steps  of  the  private  car  and  turned 
to  go  away. 

"Papa  —  one  word,"  she  pleaded. 
"Won't  you  see  Mr.  Brockway  to-night?  " 

"  No  ;  and  if  I  do,  it  will  be  the  worse  for 
him."  And  when  she  had  entered  the  car, 
he  went  away  quickly  and  climbed  the  stairs 
to  the  train-despatcher's  office  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  Union  Depot. 


THE   END  OF  A  STOP-OVER          203 

Meanwhile,  Brockway  had  eaten  his  supper 
and  posted  himself  where  he  could  watch 
what  he  supposed  to  be  the  window  of  Ger 
trude's  stateroom  for  the  promised  signal. 
He  saw  the  car  empty  itself,  first  of  Fleetwell 
and  the  ladies,  and  then  of  the  President  and 
his  daughter,  and  while  he  was  waiting  for 
the  latter  to  return,  Fleetwell  came  back, 
breathless. 

"By  Jove,  Mr.  Brockway,  this  is  great 
luck!  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  know  Den 
ver  pretty  well,  don't  you  ?  " 

"Fairly  well.  I  knew  it  better  when  I 
lived  here." 

"Do  you  happen  to  know  this  gentle- 
njan?"  handing  Brockway  a  card  with 
a  name  written  across  it. 

"Yes;  very  well,  indeed." 

"Then  I  wish  you'd  come  and  help  me 
find  him.  I've  been  out  in  a  cab  once,  and 
the  driver  got  lost.  Will  you  do  it?  " 

"With  pleasure,  if  you'll  get  me  back 
here  quick.  I  have  an  engagement  that 
can't  be  put  off." 

They  ran  out  through  the  building  and 
took  a  carriage.  ' '  Just  get  me  to  the  house, ' ' 
said  the  collegian,  "and  you  can  come 
straight  away  back  in  the  cab,"  but  beyond 


204  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

this  he  offered  no  explanations,  and  Brock- 
way  gave  the  order  to  the  driver. 

When  they  reached  the  house  in  question, 
Fleetwell  rang  the  bell,  and  the  answer  from 
within  seemed  to  be  satisfactory.  "All 
right,"  he  called  back  from  the  doorway; 
and  a  few  minutes  later  Brock  way  was  again 
on  the  station  platform,  watching  the  non 
committal  windows  of  the  private  car. 

It  was  while  the  passenger  agent  was  up 
town  with  Fleetwell  that  President  Vennor 
went  to  the  despatcher's  room.  The  result 
of  his  visit  may  be  told  in  the  words  of  a 
terse  order  which  presently  clicked  through 
the  sounder  in  the  yardmaster's  office. 

"J.  H.   M.,  • 

"Denver  Yard. 

"Send  out  Car  Naught-fifty,  President  Vennor 
and  party,  on  Number  103,  ten-five  this  P.M. 

"A.   F.  V." 

Of  this  Brockway  knew  nothing,  and  he 
haunted  the  vicinity  of  the  spur-track  with 
great  patience  for  the  better  part  of  two 
hours.  At  nine-forty-five,  Fleetwell  and  the 
ladies  returned.  They  were  all  laughing  and 
chatting  gayly,  and  when  they  entered  the 
car,  Brockway  gave  up  his  vigil.  It  was  too 
late  to  hope  for  a  private  interview  with  Mr. 


THE  END  OF  A  STOP-OVER          205 

Vennor,  and  he  concluded  to  go  over  to  the 
Tadmor  to  see  if  his  people  were  settled  for 
the  night. 

Passing  the  telegraph  office,  he  asked  if 
there  were  any  messages.  There  was  one ; 
the  much  requested  extension  of  the  gadfly's 
ticket ;  and  thrusting  it  into  his  pocket,  the 
passenger  agent  hurried  across  to  the  special 
sleeper. 

Two  minutes  afterward,  a  switching-engine 
ran  around  on  the  spur-track,  bumped  gently 
against  the  Naught-fifty,  and  presently  backed 
out  into  the  yard  with  the  private  car  in  tow. 


XXV 

WESTWARD    HO  ! 

WHEN  Brockway  boarded  the  Tadmor, 
most  of  the  thirty-odd  had  gone  to  bed ;  but 
a  committee  of  three  was  waiting  in  the 
smoking-room  on  the  chance  that  the  pas 
senger  agent  would  put  in  an  appearance  be 
fore  the  departure  of  the  night  train  for  the 
west.  The  little  gentleman  in  the  grass-cloth 
duster  and  velvet  skull-cap  was  chairman  of 
this  committee,  and  he  stated  its  object. 

"We've  been  trying  to  make  you  more 
trouble,  Mr.  Brockway,"  he  said,  pleasantly. 
"  Before  the  others  went  to  bed,  we  dis 
cussed  the  advisability  of  leaving  Denver 
to-night,  instead  of  in  the  morning.  It 
would  give  us  an  extra  day  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  that  is  what  most  of  us  would  like.  Can 
it  be  done  ?  ' ' 

Brockway  glanced  at  his  watch  and  an 
swered  promptly.  "It'll  take  sharp  work; 
the  train  leaves  in  ten  minutes.  I'll  try  it, 
206 


WESTWARD  HO!  207 

but  if  I  make  it,  I  can't  go  with  you.  My 
hand -baggage  is  at  the  hotel,  and  there's  no 
time  to  send  for  it. " 

Ordinarily,  the  amendment  would  have 
killed  the  original  proposition;  but  Mr. 
Somers  saw  that  in  Brock  way's  eyes  which 
made  him  hasten  to  forestall  argument. 

"  I  was  afraid  of  that,"  he  said ;  "  but  it 
can't  be  helped.  Of  course,  we'd  like  to 
have  you  with  us,  but  I  believe  the  extra 
day  is  of  greater  importance. ' ' 

Brockway  made  a  dumb  show  expressive 
of  his  gratitude.  "All  right;  then  I'll  bid 
you  all  good-by,  and  get  you  out  to-night, 
if  I  can." 

"But  I  ah — protest  !  "  came  with  shrill 
emphasis  from  the  vestibule,  and  the  night- 
capped  head  of  the  gadfly  was  thrust  around 
the  door-jamb.  "I  ah — stipulated " 

Brockway  snatched  the  ticket-extending 
telegram  from  his  pocket,  thrust  it  into  Mr. 
Somers' s  hand,  and  fled  without  another 
word.  One  minute  later  he  was  pleading 
eloquently  with  the  train-despatcher. 

"Oh,  say,  Fred,  let  up  !  "  protested  the 
man  of  orders.  "It's  too  late,  I  tell  you. 
The  train' 11  pull  out  in  two  minutes,  and  I 
couldn't  raise  the  yard  in  that  time." 


2o8  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

But  the  passenger  agent  would  not  be 
denied.  He  carried  his  point,  as  he  usually 
did,  and  was  shortly  racing  out  across  the 
platform,  clothed  with  authority  to  hold  the 
train  until  the  Tadmor  could  be  coupled 
thereto.  Graffo,  the  conductor,  was  found 
just  as  he  was  about  to  give  the  signal,  but 
he  waited  while  the  switching-engine  whipped 
the  Tadmor  around  and  coupled  it  to  the 
rear  of  the  train,  grumbling  meanwhile,  as 
was  his  time-honored  prerogative. 

"  Like  to  know  how  the  blazes  I'm  going 
to  make  time  to-night,  with  them  two  extras 
hooked  on  at  the  last  minute  !  "  he  growled ; 
but  Brockway  corrected  him. 

"There's  only  one,"  he  began;  and 
when  Graffo  would  have  contradicted  him, 
two  belated  passengers  came  in  sight,  hurry 
ing  across  the  platform  to  catch  the  waiting 
train.  Brockway  considerately  ran  back  to 
help  them  aboard.  It  was  the  general  agent 
and  his  wife ;  and  Mrs.  Burton  made  breath 
less  explanations. 

"  Changed  our  minds  at  the  last  minute," 
she  gasped.  "John  was  afraid  the  President 
might  not  find  him  with  his  nose  in  his  desk 
when  he  gets  there. "  Then,  with  truly 
feminine  irrelevance  :  "  I've  been  dying  to 


WESTWARD  HO!  209 

get  a  chance  to  ask  you  how  you  made  out 
— to-day — with  Gertrude;  quick — the  train's 
going  !  " 

Brockway  grinned.  "  You're  the  best 
chaperon  in  the  world,  Mrs.  Burton — after 
the  fact." 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  glad.  Can't  you  come 
along  and  visit  with  us  in  Salt  Lake  ?  " 

"  Not  for  a  king's  ransom,"  retorted 
Brockway,  laughing.  "  You  may  be  very 
sure  I  sha'n't  leave  Denver  while  the  Naught- 
fifty  stays  over  there  on "  He  turned 

to  point  out  the  President's  car  and  went 
speechless  in  the  midst  of  his  declaration  at 
sight  of  the  empty  spur-track.  The  glare  of 
the  masthead  arc-lights  left  no  room  for  un 
certainty.  The  private  car  was  gone. 

"Why,  Fred!  what  is  the  matter?" 
queried  Mrs.  Burton  anxiously  from  the 
step  of  the  sleeping-car  ;  but  at  that  moment 
Graffo  swung  his  lantern  and  the  train  be 
gan  to  move. 

Brockway  stood  staring  across  at  the 
empty  spur  in  witless  amazement,  but  he 
sprang  back  out  of  the  way  when  the  step 
of  the  car  next  to  the  regular  sleeper  brushed 
him  in  passing.  The  touch  broke  the  spell. 
As  he  started  back,  the  sheen  of  the  nearest 


210  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

electric  lamp  fell  fairly  upon  the  oval  me 
dallion  on  the  side  of  the  moving  car,  and 
he  saw  the  gilt  figures  "050"  flash  for  a 
half-second  before  his  eyes. 

In  a  twinkling  he  knew  what  had  been 
done,  and  what  he  should  do.  When  the 
Tadmor  came  up,  he  caught  the  hand-rail 
and  boarded  the  train  without  so  much  as 
a  thought  for  his  belongings  left  behind 
at  the  up- town  hotel.  The  Tadmor 's  smok 
ing-room  was  deserted,  and  he  went  in  to 
burn  a  reflective  cigar,  and  to  ponder  over 
the  probable  outcome  of  this  latest  proof  of 
the  President's  resentment. 

Having  failed  to  get  speech  with  Gertrude, 
he  could  only  guess  at  the  result  of  her  in 
terview  with  her  father,  but  the  sudden 
change  in  the  itinerary  spoke  for  itself,  and 
thus  far  the  guess  was  twin  brother  to  the 
truth.  But  two  hours  had  intervened  be 
tween  Mr.  Vennor's  hasty  decision  and  the 
departure  of  Train  Number  103,  and  many 
things  may  befall  in  two  hours. 


XXVI 

A    BLIND     SIDING 

WHEN  the  President  went  back  to  the 
Naught-fifty  after  his  visit  to  the  despatcher, 
he  meant  to  tell  Gertrude  at  once  what  he 
had  done,  and  the  reason  therefor ;  but  she 
had  retreated  to  her  stateroom,  and  in  re 
ply  to  his  tap  at  the  door  had  begged  to  be 
excused.  After  that,  there  was  ample  time 
for  reflection,  and  the  President  walked  the 
floor  of  the  central  compartment,  smoking 
many  cigars,  and  dividing  the  time  impar 
tially  between  wondering  what  had  become  of 
the  other  members  of  the  party,  and  specu 
lating  as  to  the  probable  effect  upon  Ger 
trude's  hallucination  of  the  sudden  and  un 
announced  flitting. 

Almost  at  the  last  moment,  when  he  had 
begun  to  fear  they  had  gone  to  the  theatre, 
Mrs.  Dunham  and  the  young  people  returned, 
full  to  the  lips  with  suppressed  excitement ; 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  bustle  of  departure 


212  A  ROMANCE   IN   TRANSIT 

the  two  young  women  made  a  descent  upon 
Gertrude's  room,  while  Mrs.  Dunham  took 
the  President  aside.  What  passed  between 
them,  Quatremain,  who  was  pretending  to 
be  asleep  in  the  nearest  chair,  could  not  over 
hear  ;  but  that  Mrs.  Dunham's  news  was 
startling  and  not  altogether  unpleasant  was 
plainly  evident  to  the  secretary. 

By  this  time  the  private  car  had  been 
switched  to  its  place  in  the  train,  and  when 
the  steady  rumbling  of  the  wheels  betokened 
the  beginning  of  the  westward  journey,  Ger 
trude  appeared  with  the  two  young  women, 
and  there  was  a  dramatic  little  scene  in  the 
central  compartment,  through  which  the  sec 
retary  did  not  even  pretend  to  sleep.  The 
President's  daughter  demanded  to  know 
where  they  were  going,  and  why  she  had 
not  been  told,  ending  by  throwing  herself 
into  Mrs.  Dunham's  arms  and  crying  as  if 
her  heart  would  break.  And,  for  the  first 
time  in  Quatremain's  knowledge  of  him,  the 
President  had  nothing  to  say,  while  Fleet- 
well  spoke  his  mind  freely,  though  in  terms 
unintelligible  to  the  secretary,  and  Mrs. 
Dunham  bore  the  weeping  young  woman 
away  to  the  privacy  of  her  own  stateroom. 
After  which,  Mr.  Vennor,  deserted  of  all  of 


A   BLIND  SIDING  213 

them,  lighted  another  cigar  and  betook  him 
self  to  the  rear  vestibule,  to  what  meditative 
end  Quatremain  could  only  guess. 

The  train  was  well  out  oT  Denver  and 
speeding  swiftly  through  the  night  on  its 
flight  over  the  swelling  plain.  The  Presi 
dent  stood  at  the  rear  door  of  his  car,  gazing 
abstractedly  at  the  bobbing  and  swaying 
front  end  of  the  sleeper  which  had  been 
coupled  to  the  Naught-fifty  at  the  moment 
of  departure.  After  a  time  the  train  paused 
at  a  station,  and  when  it  moved  on  again  the 
light  from  the  operator's  bay-window  flashed 
upon  the  name  over  the  door  of  the  follow 
ing  car.  The  President  saw  it  and  started 
back  with  an  ejaculation  which  would  have 
sounded  very  like  an  oath,  had  there  been 
any  one  to  hear  it.  Then  he  came  close  to 
the  glass-panelled  door  and  scowled  out  at 
the  Tadmor  as  if  it  were  a  thing  alive  and 
perversely  and  personally  responsible  for  this 
latest  interference  with  his  plans. 

He  was  fond  of  boasting  that  he  had  no 
creed,  but,  in  his  way,  Francis  Vennor  was 
a  better  fatalist  than  many  who  assume  the 
name.  When  the  grim  humor  of  the  relent 
less  pursuit  began  to  appeal  to  him,  the 
wrathful  scowl  relaxed  by  degrees  and  gave 


214  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

place  to  the  metallic  smile.  It  could  scarcely 
be  prearrangement  this  time,  he  decided ;  it 
was  fate  and  no  less ;  and  having  admitted 
so  much,  he  crossed  the  platforms  and  let 
himself  into  the  ante-room  of  the  Tadmor. 

Brockway  was  still  sitting  in  the  smoking- 
room,  and  he  was  so  taken  aback  that  he  re 
turned  the  President's  nod  of  recognition  no 
less  stiffly  than  it  was  given.  Whereupon 
Mr.  Vennor  entered  the  compartment,  gath 
ered  up  his  coat-tails,  and  sat  down  beside 
the  passenger  agent  to  finish  his  cigar. 

Now  Brockway  inferred,  naturally,  that 
Gertrude's  father  had  come  to  have  it  out 
with  him,  and  for  the  first  five  minutes  he 
waited  nervously  for  the  President  to  begin. 
Then  it  occurred  to  him  that  possibly  Mr. 
Vennor  had  come  to  accord  him  the  inter 
view  which  Gertrude  had  promised  to  pro 
cure  for  him  ;  and  he  spent  five  other  min 
utes  of  tongue-tied  embarrassment  trying  to 
pull  himself  together  sufficiently  to  state  his 
case  with  becoming  clarity  and  frankness. 
The  upshot  of  all  this  was  that  they  sat  smok 
ing  solemnly  and  in  phlegmatic  silence  for 
upwards  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  the  President  rose  and  tossed 
his  cigar-butt  out  of  the  window. 


A  BLIND  SIDING  215 

"  Going  on  through  with  your  people,  are 
you?"  he  said,  steadying  himself  by  the 
door-jamb. 

"Yes;  as  far  as  Salt  Lake,"  Brockway 
replied,  wondering  if  he  ought  to  apologize 
for  the  intention. 

"H-m;  changed  your  plans  rather  sud 
denly,  didn't  you?  " 

"The  party  changed  them;  I  wasn't  no 
tified  till  ten  minutes  before  train-time." 

"No?  I  suppose  you  didn't  know  we 
were  going  on  to-night,  either,  did  you  ?  or 
did  the  despatcher  tell  you  ?  ' ' 

"  No  one  told  me.  I  knew  nothing  of  it 
till  I  saw  the  Naught-fifty  in  the  train." 

"  And  that  was? " 

"  Just  at  the  last  moment — after  the  train 
had  started,  in  fact." 

"  Ah.  Then  I  am  to  understand  that  our 
movements  have  nothing  to  do  with  your  be 
ing  here  now  ?  ' ' 

Brockway  had  begun  by  being  studiously 
deferential  and  placable,  but  the  questions 
were  growing  rather  personal. 

"You  are  to  understand  nothing  of  the 
sort,"  he  replied.  "  On  the  contrary,  I 
am  here  solely  because  you  saw  fit  to  change 
your  itinerary." 


216  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

President  Vennor  was  so  wholly  unus-ed  to 
anything  like  a  retort  from  a  junior  and  an 
inferior  that  he  sat  down  in  the  opposite  seat 
and  felt  mechanically  in  his  pockets  for  a 
cigar.  Brockway  promptly  capped  the  cli 
max  of  audacity  by  offering  one  of  his  own, 
and  the  President  took  it  absently. 

"  It  is  scarcely  worth  your  while  to  be 
disrespectful,  Mr.  Brockway,"  he  said,  when 
the  cigar  was  alight. 

"  I  don't  mean  to  be." 

"But  you  intercepted  my  telegram  this 
morning,  and  sent  me  a  most  impertinent 
reply." 

"  I  did  ;  and  a  little  while  before  that, 
you  had  tried  to  knock  me  down." 

"So  I  did,  but  the  provocation  was  very 
considerable  ;  you  must  admit  that." 

"Cheerfully,"  said  Brockway,  who  was 
coming  to  his  own  in  the  matter  of  self-pos 
session  with  gratifying  rapidity.  "  But  I 
take  no  shame  for  the  telegram.  As  I  told 
Miss  Gertrude,  I  would  have  done  a  much 
worse  thing  to  compass  the  same  end." 

The  President  frowned  and  coughed  dryly. 
"  The  incentive  was  doubtless  very  strong, 
but  I  am  told  that  you  have  since  been  made 
aware  of  the  facts  in  the  case — relative  to 


A   BLIND  SIDING  217 

my  daughter's  forfeiture  of  her  patrimony,  I 
mean." 

"  The  '  incentive/  as  you  call  it,  was  the 
only  obstacle.  When  I  learned  that  it  did 
not  exist,  I  asked  your  daughter  to  be  my 
wife/' 

"  Knowing  that  my  consent  would  be 
withheld?'1 

"  Taking  that  for  granted — yes." 

"  Very  good ;  your  frankness  is  commend 
able.  Before  we  go  any  farther,  let  me  ask 
one  question.  Would  anything  I  could  give 
you  induce  you  to  go  about  your  business — 
to  disappear,  so  to  speak  ?  ' ' 

"Yes." 

"  Name  it,"  said  the  President,  with  ill- 
concealed  satisfaction. 

"Your  daughter's  hand  in  marriage." 

"  Ah  ;  " — he  lost  his  hold  upon  the  hope 
ful  alternative  and  made  no  sign — "  nothing 
less?" 

"  Nothing  less." 

"  Very  good  again  ;  then  we  may  go  on 
to  other  matters.  How  do  you  expect  to 
support  a  wife  whose  allowance  of  pin-money 
has  probably  exceeded  your  entire  income?  " 

"As  many  a  better  man  has  done  before 
me,  when  the  woman  of  his  choice  was  will- 


218  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

ing  to  put  love  before  luxury/*  quoth  Brock- 
way,  with  more  philosophy  than  he  could 
properly  lay  claim  to. 

"  H-m;  love  in  a  cottage,  and  all  that,  I 
suppose.  It's  very  romantic,  but  you'll 
pardon  me  if  I  confess  I'm  not  able  to  take 
any  such  philosophical  view  of  the  matter." 

"Oh,  certainly;  I  didn't  suppose  you 
would  be.  But  if  you  don't  like  it,  the 
remedy  is  in  your  own  hands,"  said  Brock- 
way,  with  great  composure. 

* '  Ah  ;  yesterday  you  told  me  I  was  mis 
taken  in  my  man ;  this  time  it  is  you  who 
are  mistaken.  Gertrude  will  get  nothing 
from  me." 

Brockway  met  the  cool  stare  of  the  calcu 
lating  eyes  without  flinching,  and  refused  to 
be  angry. 

"  You  know  very  well  I  didn't  mean 
that,"  he  said,  calmly.  "  I  wouldn't  touch 
a  penny  of  your  money  under  any  circum 
stances  that  I  can  imagine  just  now." 

"  Then  what  do  you  mean  ?  "  demanded 
the  President. 

Brockway  thought  he  might  as  well  die  fight 
ing,  so  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  made 
shift  to  look  indifferent  and  unconcerned. 

"I'm  well  enough  satisfied  with  my  pres- 


A  BLIND  SIDING  219 

ent  income  and  prospects,  and  Gertrude  is 
quite  willing  to  share  them  with  me  ;  but  if 
you  think  I'm  not  earning  enough  money, 
why,  you  are  the  President  of  a  very  con 
siderable  railway  company,  and  I'll  cheer 
fully  attack  anything  you  see  fit  to  give  me 
from  the  general  passenger  agency  down." 

"  Ha  !  "  said  the  President,  and  for  once 
in  a  way  he  acknowledged  himself  fairly  out 
done  in  cold-blooded  assurance  ;  "  you  have 
the  courage  of  your  convictions  to  say  that 
to  me." 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  Brockway,  riding 
at  a  gallop  along  the  newly  discovered  road 
to  the  President's  favor  ;  "  I  merely  suggest 
it  to  help  you  out.  I'm  very  well  con 
tented  where  I  am. " 

"  Oh,  you  are.  And  yet  you  would  con 
sent  to  take  service  under  me,  after  what 
has  passed  between  us  ?  I  say  you  have 
courage  ;  I  could  break  you  in  a  year." 

"Possibly;  but  you  wouldn't,  youknow." 

The  President  rose  and  held  out  his  hand 
with  a  smile  which  no  man  might  analyze. 

"You  refuse  to  be  bullied,  don't  you? 
and  you  say  you  would  attack  anything.  I 
believe  you  would,  and  I  like  that ;  you 
shall  be  given  the  opportunity,  and  under  a 


220  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

harder  master  than  you  have  ever  had.  You 
may  even  find  yourself  required  to  make  bricks 
without  straw.  Come,  now,  hadn't  you  bet 
ter  retract  and  go  about  your  business  ?  ' ' 

"  Never  a  word ;  and  where  Gertrude 
goes,  I  go,"  said  Brockway,  taking  the 
proffered  hand  with  what  show  of  indiffer 
ence  he  could  command. 

"  Very  well,  if  you  will  have  it  so.  If 
you  are  of  the  same  mind  in  the  morning, 
perhaps  you'd  better  join  us  at  breakfast  and 
we  can  talk  it  over.  Will  you  come  ?  ' ' 

"  Yes,  if  you  will  tell  the  other  members 
of  your  party  why  I  am  there." 

The  President  smiled  again,  sardonically 
this  time. 

"  I  think  the  occasion  for  that  has  gone 
by,"  he  said.  "  Good-night." 

When  the  outer  door  closed  behind  his 
visitor,  Brockway  collapsed  as  was  his  un 
doubted  privilege.  Then  he  revived  under 
the  stimulus  of  an  overwaxing  and  masterful 
desire  to  see  Gertrude  again  before  he  slept 
— to  share  the  good  news  with  her  before 
the  burden  of  it  should  crush  him.  And  he 
was  considering  how  it  might  be  brought 
about  when  the  engineer  blew  the  whistle 
for  Bending  Bow. 


XXVII 

THE    DRUMMING    WHEELS 

BENDING  Bow  is  but  an  insignificant  side 
track  on  the  mountain -buttressed  plain  some 
thirty  miles  from  Denver ;  and  I  would  for 
the  sake  of  the  two  young  persons  whose  ro 
mance  this  is,  that  it  might  have  been  a 
meeting-point  with  a  delayed  train. 

When  the  first  of  the  switch-lights  flashed 
past  the  windows  of  the  Tadmor,  Brockway 
went  out  and  stood  on  the  step  ready  to 
drop  off  when  the  speed  should  slacken  suf 
ficiently  to  permit  it.  While  hanging  from 
the  hand-rail  he  glanced  ahead  and  saw  that 
which  made  his  heart  glad.  The  signal- 
lamp  at  the  station  turned  a  crimson  eye 
toward  the  train,  and  that  meant  orders, 
and  a  few  more  seconds  of  precious  time. 

At  the  first  shrill  sigh  of  the  air-brakes, 
he  sprang  off  and  ran  beside  the  private  car, 
trying  to  peer  into  the  darkened  windows, 


222  A  ROMANCE  IN   TRANSIT 

and  taking  all  sorts  of  risks  considering  the 
hazard  he  ran  of  lighting  upon  the  wrong 
one. 

But  good  fortune  was  with  him.  Before 
the  smoking  wheels  had  quite  ceased  grind 
ing  fire  out  of  the  brake-shoes,  he  came  to 
a  window  with  a  tiny  corner  of  a  handker 
chief  fluttering  beneath  it.  It  was  Ger 
trude's  signal,  and  he  understood  then  that 
he  had  been  keeping  tryst  on  the  wrong 
side  of  the  car  as  it  stood  on  the  spur-track 
in  Denver.  The  window  was  closed  and 
curtained  like  the  others,  but  it  went  up 
noiselessly  when  he  tapped  on  the  glass. 

Now  it  was  pitchy  dark,  both  within  and 
without,  but  love  has  sharpened  senses  and 
eyes  which  no  night  has  ever  yet  been  black 
enough  to  befool.  "  Frederick  !  "  said  a 
soft  voice  from  within,  and  there  was  joyful 
surprise  in  the  single  word.  Then  a  hand 
came  out  to  him,  and  he  possessed  him 
self  of  it  as  one  who  will  keep  that  which  is 
his. 

"  God  bless  you,"  he  whispered;  "I 
hardly  dared  hope  to  find  you  up. ' ' 

"I  wasn't  up,"  said  the  tender  voice, 
with  a  touch  of  sweet  shyness  in  it ;  "  but 
I  couldn't  go  to  sleep  for  thinking  how  dis- 


THE   DRUMMING   WHEELS  223 

appointed  you  must  be.  How  did  you  find 
out  we  were  going  ?  ' ' 

"  By  the  merest  chance  ;  "but  it's  all  right 
now — your  father  has  just  been  in  to  see 
me." 

"  Has  he?  Oh,  I  hope  you  didn't  quar 
rel  !" 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Brockway,  reassuringly. 
"We  sat  together  and  smoked  like  two  In 
dians  at  a  pow-wow,  and  neither  of  us  said  a 
word  for  nearly  half  an  hour.  After  that, 
he  got  up  to  go  away,  and  then  he  thought 
better  of  it  and  sat  down  again,  and  we  had 
it  out  about  the  telegrams  and  other  things. 
That  cleared  the  air  a  bit,  and  before  he 
left,  he  accepted  the  situation  without  saying 
so  in  so  many  words,  and  promised  to  graft 
me  on  the  C.  &  U.  in  some  place  where  I 
can  earn  more  money.  Don't  cry;  it's  too 
good  to  be  true,  but  the  fact  remains." 

"  I'm  not  crying,  but  I'm  glad  enough  to 
do  a  much  more  foolish  thing.  You  won't 
let  my  money  make  any  difference  now,  will 
you?" 

"Your  money  isn't  in  it,  and  I  think  I 
made  your  father  understand  that  I'd  never 
have  spoken  if  I  hadn't  known  you  were 
going  to  lose  it." 


224  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

"  But  I — I  haven't  lost  it.  Didn't  he 
tell  you?" 

"Tell  me  what?" 

6 '  About  Cousin  Chester  and  Hannah 
Beaswicke  ;  they  were  married  this  evening. 
I  don't  understand  the  legal  part  of  it,  but 
papa  says  that  saves  my  money.  You  won't 
let  it  make  any  difference  ?  ' ' 

Brock  way  gripped  the  small  hand  as  if  he 
were  afraid  it  might  escape  him  after  all, 
and  tried  to  flog  himself  around  to  the  new 
point  of  view.  It  was  a  breath-taking  proc 
ess,  but  he  compassed  it  more  quickly  since 
there  was  no  time  for  the  nice  weighing  of 
scruples.  Moreover,  it  was  too  late  to  give 
poverty  -  pride  a  second  hearing.  So  he 
said : 

"I  can't  let  it  make  a  difference  now, 
but  I  shall  always  be  glad  that  I  asked  you 
when  we  both  believed  you  were  going  to 
lose  it.  And  I  ought  to  have  guessed  about 
your  cousin's  marriage,  but  I  didn't — I 
helped  him  find  the  County  Clerk,  and 
wondered  why  he  was  so  anxious  about  it. 
I'm  glad  you  didn't  have  to  break  his 
heart." 

She  laughed  happily.  "There  was  no 
question  of  hearts  between  us;  he  knew 


THE   DRUMMING   WHEELS  225 

it,  and  I  knew  it ;  and  when  he  spoke  to 
me  to-night,  we  settled  it  definitely.  Are 
you  glad  or  sorry?  about -the  money,  I 
mean." 

"Both,  I  think;  glad  for  your  sake, 
though." 

"I'll  go  and  live  in  the  five-roomed  cot 
tage  with  you,  if  you  like,  and  we'll  forget 
all  about  it." 

"I  believe  you'd  do  it" — Brockway 
glanced  up,  and,  seeing  the  red  signal  still 
displayed,  blessed  the  tardy  operator  who 
was  doubtless  bungling  the  train-order — 
"  but  I  sha'n't  insist."  Then  with  a  touch 
of  graver  earnestness:  "We  are  properly 
engaged  now,  aren't  we  ?  " 

"  I  should  hope  so  " — shyly. 

He  took  a  ring  from  his  pocket  and  slipped 
it  over  the  finger  of  the  captive  hand. 

"  It  isn't  every  one  who  goes  prepared," 
he  said,  with  quiet  humor;  "  it  was  a  gift 
from  a  train-load  of  Grand  Army  people  I 
took  across  last  year  ;  and  I've  carried  it  in 
my  pocket  ever  since  because  I  didn't  think 
I  had-any  right  to  wear  diamonds.  Will  you 
wear  it  for  me  ?" 

"  Always." 

"  Will  you  wear  it  to-morrow — before  all 


226  A  ROMANCE  IN  TRANSIT 

the  others?     I'm  coming  in  to  breakfast, 
you  know.     Your  father  asked  me. ' ' 

"  I  said  always." 

Conductor  Graffo,  coming  out  of  the  tele 
graph  office  with  a  scrap  of  tissue  paper  in 
his  hand  :  "All  abo-o-ard  !  " 

"  That  parts  us  again,"  said  Brockway, 
sorrowfully.  "  Good-night,  dear ;  God  keep 
you  safe ' ' — the  air-brakes  sighed  sympatheti 
cally,  and  he  kissed  her  hand  and  released  it 
— "till  to-morrow."  His  face  was  at  the 
window,  and  two  soft  arms  came  out  of  the 
square  of  darkness  and  went  about  his  neck, 
and  two  lips  that  he  could  not  see  brushed 
his  cheek. 

"Till  to-morrow,"  she  repeated;  and 
then  the  train  began  to  move  and  she  let 
him  go  quickly  that  he  might  run  no  risk  of 
stumbling. 

The  engine  groaned  and  strained,  filling 
the  air  with  a  jarring  as  of  nearby  thunder  ; 
the  steam  hissed  from  the  cylinders,  and  the 
great  driving-wheels  began  once  more  to 
measure  the  rails.  Brockway  swung  lightly 
up  to  the  step  of  the  Tadmor,  and  when  the 
last  switch-lamp  had  shot  backward  into  the 
night,  went  to  his  berth  to  wrestle  with  his 
happiness  until  tardy  sleep  came,  bringing 


THE  DRUMMING  WHEELS  227 

in  its  train  a  beatific  vision  in  which  the  ; 
song  of  the  drumming  wheels  became  the  N 
overture  to  a  wedding  march,  and  the  mel 
low  blasts  of  the  whistle  rang  a  merry  peal    \ 
of  joy-bells. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
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DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR    IS  1943 

APR   161943 

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M36531 


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A  ROMANCE 
IN    TRANSIT 


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